Editing system, editing method, clip management device, and clip management method

ABSTRACT

The relation between the edit resultant clip and the clip to be edited is managed with the hierarchical structure by managing means, so that the complicate editing works can be easily performed if the editing works are performed based on the information stored in the managing means.

This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/068,866,filed Oct. 23, 1998, which is a 371 of PCT/JP97/03343, filed 19 Sep.1997. The present invention relates to an editing system, and moreparticularly, is applicable to an editing system for performing editprocessing by using a plurality of materials.

BACKGROUND ARTS

Recently, in the field of postproduction which edits the video dataobtained from a video camera, a nonlinear editing system which uses; adisc as a recording medium for recording the data of materials has beenproposed. There are various types of edit processing as an editingprocessing performed in the nonlinear editing system. For example, theyare the video edit processing for combining a plurality of materials toproduce a desired video program, the composite processing for composinga plurality of materials by key signal, the special effect processingfor applying the special effects to materials, and so on. Generally, thevideo edit processing is performed at an editing device, the compositeprocessing is performed at a video switcher, and the special effectprocessing is performed at a special effect device.

In recent years, the development of a disc recording medium in itsrandom access function makes it possible to access to a plurality ofchannels simultaneously. As a result, the edit processing for processingvideo data of a plurality of channels in real time has been desired. Forexample, in the television world in which television commercial messagesare edited and produced or in the movie world in which movie programsare edited and produced, it is desired to use a dozens of materials toseveral hundred materials and to combine some different editprocessings. More over, it is required to produce a complicated and highdegree of edit resultant data by performing the several kinds of editprocessing repeatedly.

To produce the complicated and high degree of edit resultant data, it isneeded to control a dozen of materials to several hundred materials andto store the history of the edit processing.

However, in a conventional editing system, there is no device forcontrolling a lot of materials and no device for storing the edithistory, so that the editing operation has became complicated. Morespecifically, an edit operator (hereinafter, referred to as “operator”shortly) can not remember the information that which material has beenused and which edit processing has been performed when the editresultant video data has been produced. Therefore, in the conventionalediting system, the operator has managed the information by writing in apaper whenever the editing is performed. Further, in the case of thecomplicated edit processing such that a newly edit resultant video datais repeatedly produced from a plurality of edit resultant video data,the information of the editing history that which of materials is thefinal edit resultant video data produced from becomes large size ofdata, so that it has been impossible for the operator to manage theinformation by writing in a paper.

Also, in the conventional editing system, the operator needs to operatethe device corresponding to the edit processing for each editprocessing. Therefore, the edit works become complicated terribly. Forinstance, when two video data are composed, the operator needs tooperate a control panel connected to a switcher device. When the specialeffect is applied to video data, the operator needs to operate a keyboard of the special effect device. There has been a problem that thedevice to be operated is changed in accordance with the edit processingso as to take much time to edit.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

This invention is to solve the problems described above, and to providean editing system which can realize the simplified and high-speed editby managing a plurality of materials with the original hierarchicalstructure. Further, based on the management information, this inventionis to realize the simplified and high-speed edit by managing a pluralityof materials to be the most suitable for the edit processing.

Further, this invention is to provide an editing system which canperform various edit processings such as the edit processing, compositeprocessing and special effect processing by manipulating one computerwithout operating respective devices by an operator. Also, thisinvention is to provide an editing system for producing the complicatedand high degree of edit resultant data which can not be realized by aconventional editing system. Furthermore, this invention is to providean editing system having the optimum Graphical User Interface (GUI) tomanage a plurality of materials with the hierarchical structure and toproduce the complicated and high degree of the edit resultant data. TheGUI simplifies the edit works and improves the usage of the editoperation.

To solve the above problems, according to this invention, an editingsystem for producing the edit resultant clip from a plurality of clipsto be edited is provided with editing means, which consists of aplurality of processing modules for editing the clips to be edited, forproducing the edit resultant clip by performing the edit processingcorresponding to the processing module selected among from the pluralityof processing modules on the plurality of clips to be edited, managingmeans for managing with the hierarchical structure the edit resultantclip and the plurality of clips to be edited in order to show that whichof clips to be edited is the edit resultant clip produced from, andcontrol means for controlling the editing means based on the informationmanaged by the managing means.

The relation between the edit resultant clip and the clips to be editedcan be obtained by managing means. Thus, the edit resultant clip isproduced based on the information showing the relation between the clipskept in the managing means, so as to perform the complicated edit workseasily.

Further, according to this invention, the editing system for editing aplurality of clips to be edited is provided with editing means, whichconsists of a plurality of processing modules for editing the clips tobe edited, for producing the edit resultant clip by performing the editprocessing corresponding to the processing module selected among fromthe plurality of processing modules on the plurality of clips to beedited, display means for displaying the graphical user interfacecorresponding to the plurality of processing modules on a display,storing means for storing image processing data showing the content ofimage processing performed by the edit processing applied to the videodata of the clips to be edited, correspondingly to the edit resultantclip, and control means for controlling the display means to display theimage processing data stored in the storing means which corresponds tothe selected edit resultant clip on a display as a part of the graphicaluser interface when the edit resultant clip is selected.

When the edit resultant clip is selected, the image processing datashowing the content of the image processing is displayed on a display asa part of the graphical user interface, so that the edit operator looksat the display to understand the content of the specified imageprocessing easily.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram showing the construction of an editingsystem according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal construction of the workstation being the main construction of the editing system;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing modules and clip database providedin the editing system according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram explaining the hierarchical management ofclips;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram explaining the image of compositeprocessing;

FIG. 6 is a screen image explaining the video image produced by thecomposite processing;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram explaining the concept of the compositeprocessing;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram explaining the concept of the specialeffect processing;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram explaining the concept of the editprocessing;

FIG. 10 is a screen image showing the GUI screen displayed when thecomposite module is started up;

FIG. 11 is a screen image showing the GUI screen displayed when thespecial effect module is started up;

FIG. 12 is a screen image showing the GUI screen displayed when the editmodule is started up;

FIG. 13 is a table showing a database for clip management dataregistered in a clip database;

FIG. 14 is a table explaining the database when the clip management datawhich already has been registered is modified;

FIG. 15 is a table showing the editing point data in the compositeprocessing;

FIG. 16 is a table showing the editing point data in the special effectprocessing;

FIG. 17 is a table showing the editing point data in the editprocessing;

FIG. 18 is a table showing the composite data in the compositionprocessing;

FIG. 19 is a table showing the special effect data at the special effectprocessing;

FIG. 20 is a table showing the editing data in the edit processing;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart explaining the operation when the control moduleis started up;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart explaining the operation when the edit module isstarted up;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart explaining the operation when the compositemodule is started up;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart explaining the operation when the special effectmodule is started up;

FIG. 25 is a flowchart explaining the operation in the editionprocessing;

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram explaining an arbitrary resultant clipwhen the content of edit is modified;

FIG. 27 is a flowchart explaining the operation when the other module isstarted up during a predetermined module has been started up;

FIG. 28 is a flowchart explaining the operation in the re-executionprocessing; and

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram showing the re-execution processingschematically.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(1) The Whole Construction of Editing System

First, the whole construction of the editing system of this inventionwill be described referring to FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, 1 shows the editing system according to this invention, whichhas a work station 2 for controlling the system entirely. The workstation 2 has a body 2A provided with a central processing unit (CPU),various processing circuits, a floppy disc drive, a hard disk drive, andso on, a display 2B connected to the body 2A, a key board 2C, a mouse2D, and a pen tablet 2E. In the work station 2, an application softwarefor editing has been previously installed in the hard disk drive. Theapplication software is operated under the operating system, so as tostart up as a computer for editing.

In connection, when the application software is operated, the graphicdisplay for the graphical user interface (GUI) is displayed on thedisplay 2B. If a desired graphic display displayed on the display 2B isselected by using the pen tablet 2E or the mouse 2D described above, thedesired edit command can be input to the work station 2. Various numeraldata relating to edit can also be input to the work station 2 throughthe key board 2C.

In addition, when the edit command or various numeral data is input byan operator, the work station 2 outputs control data in accordance withthe edit command or various numeral data to a device controller 3described later. In this way, respective devices composing the editingsystem 1 are controlled through the device controller 3. However, a partof the function of a video disk recorder 5 is directly controlledwithout the device controller 3.

Further, video data is input to the work station 2 through the devicecontroller 3, so that the image of edit material or the image after editcan be displayed on the display 2B.

The device controller 3 is a control device for receiving the controldata from the work station 2 and actually controlling respectivedevices. The exclusive controller 4 having dial operation keys or slideoperation keys is connected to the device controller 3, so that thegradually-changing control data which can not be input from the keyboard 2C, the mouse 2D, or the pen tablet 2E of the work station 2 canbe also input in the editing system 1.

The device controller 3 receives the control data from the work station2 or the exclusive controller 4 to control the devices corresponding tothe control data. For example, the device controller 3 instructs thevideo disk recorder 5 to reproduce a material and record the materialafter edit. The video disk recorder 5 instructed reproduces the videodata or audio data of the desired material which has been stored in theinternal disc recording medium to output it, and records the editedvideo data or audio data in the disc recording medium, in accordancewith the instruction.

Similarly, the device controller 3 instructs the video tape recorder(VTR) 6 to reproduce a material. The instructed video tape recorder 6reproduces the video data or audio data of the desired material whichhas been stored in the internal video tape to output it, in accordancewith the instruction. In addition, in the editing system 1, the videodata recorded in the video tape recorder 6 is manipulated as video dataof the material, after being down-loaded once in the video disk recorder5.

Further, the device controller 3 instructs the switcher 7 to select thevideo data output from the video tape recorder 6 or a video camera 8.The instructed switcher 7 selects the input video data of the desiredmaterial to output it to a digital multi-effector 9 and to output to thework station 2 through the device controller 3, successively selects theinput video data of the desired video data to combine them, or outputsthe edited video data to display it on a monitor 10, and returns theedited video data to the video disk recorder 5 to record it, inaccordance with the instruction.

Further, the device controller 3 instructs the digital multi-effector 9to perform various effect processing. The instructed digitalmulti-effector 9 performs on the input video data of the desiredmaterial the special effect processing such as the mosaic processing andthe three-dimensional transform processing, effect processing such asthe transition effect, and the image composite processing. The obtainedvideo data is returned to the switcher 7 again and is output to the workstation 2, the monitor 10, and the video disk recorder 5, in accordancewith the instruction.

Further, the device controller 3 instructs an audio mixer 11 to edit theaudio data output from the video disk recorder 5 or the video taperecorder 6. The instructed audio mixer 11 composes (mixes) the desiredaudio material, and returns the composed audio data to the video diskrecorder 5 to be recorded, in accordance with the instruction.

In this way, in the editing system 1 having the construction describedabove, the desired edit command is input through the work station 2, sothat the complicated and high-degree of desired video data can beproduced easily by using the video data of a plurality of variousmaterials which have been recorded in the video disk recorder 5 or thevideo tape recorder 6. Thus, if an operator does not directly operaterespective devices consisting the editing system, the various edits canbe performed by only operating the work station 2. Therefore, the worksof edit can be reduced comparing to the conventional system, and theusage of the editing system can be improved.

(2) The Construction of the Work Station

In this paragraph, the construction of the work station 2 which is thecentral existence of the editing system 1 will be described. As shown inFIG. 2, the work station 2 has a system bus 20 for transmitting thecommand data and the video data, a CPU 21 for controlling the workstation 2 entirely, a video processor 22 for performing image processingon the video data S1 supplied from the device controller 3, a displaycontroller 23 for managing the video data displayed on the display 2Band the graphic display for the GUI, an HDD interface 24 for controllinga local hard disk drive (local HDD) 24A, a FDD interface 25 forcontrolling a floppy disc drive (FDD) 25A, a pointing device interface26 for producing the control command based on the command input from thepointing device such as the key board 2C, the mouse 2D, and the pentablet 2E, and an external interface 27 having the software driver foroutputting the control data S2 to the device controller 3.

The system bus 20 is a bus to transmit the video data, command data,address data, etc. in the work station 2, and is composed of an imagedata bus 20A for transmitting the video data and a command data bus 20Bfor transmitting the command data and the address data.

The CPU 21, the video processor 22, the display controller 23, the HDDinterface 24, and the FDD interface 25 are connected to the image databus 20A. The CPU 21, the video processor 22, the display controller 23,the HDD interface 24, and the FDD interface 25 transmit the video datathrough the image data bus 20A.

On the other hand, the CPU 21, the video processor 22, the displaycontroller 23, the HDD interface 24, the FDD interface 25, the pointingdevice interface 26, and the external interface 27 are connected to thecommand data bus 20B (that is, all blocks in the work station 2 areconnected). The command data and the address data are transmittedthrough the command data bus 20B.

The CPU 21 is a block for controlling the work station 2 entirely, andhas a ROM 21A in which the operating system of the work station 2 isstored and a RAM 21B in which the up-loaded application software anddatabase are stored. To start up the work station 2, the CPU 21 operatesbased on the operating system stored in the ROM 21A so as to start upit. To drive the application software under the operating system startedup, the CPU 21 firstly reads the application software recorded in thehard disk of the hard disk drive 24A to up-load it on the RAM 21B,thereafter, the application software is executed to be driven.

In addition, the application software is divided into modules accordingto their function. As described later, when roughly divided, theapplication software is composed of the edit module for combining thematerials, the composite module for composing the materials such likesuperimposing, the special effect module for applying special effects tothe materials such like the three-dimensional transform, and the controlmodule for controlling the starting up of the modules and the datatransfer. More specifically, in the system, when the applicationsoftware is started up, firstly the control module is started up. Then,when the instruction is input from an operator to edit, thecorresponding module is suitably started up under the control of thecontrol module, so as to perform the edit instructed by the operator.

The video processor 22 is a block for receiving the video data S1 of theSerial Digital Interface (SDI) standard input to the work station 2 andconverting the video data S1, which is buffered temporarily therein.More specifically, the video processor 22 is composed of a processorcontroller 22A for controlling the video processor entirely, a dataconverting part 22B for extracting the composite video signal from thepay load part of the received video data S1 and for converting thecomposite video signal into the digital component video data, and aframe memory 22C for storing the video data of several frames outputfrom the data converting part 22B temporarily.

The processor controller 22A outputs the control signal to the dataconverting part 22B to control the data converting operation of the dataconverting part 22B, and makes the data converting part 22B to extracttime code from the video data S1. Further, the processor controller 22Aoutputs the control signal to the frame memory 22C to control theread/write timing and the read/write address of the frame memory 22C. Inconnection, as to the read timing, the processor controller 22A controlsthe read timing of the frame memory 22C so that the time code output tothe display controller 23 corresponds to the video data (frame data).

The data converting part 22B converts the composite video signal intothe digital component video data based on the control signal from theprocessor controller 22A. In connection, the time code is extracted inthis converting process. The obtained video data is output to the framememory 22C as described above, and the extracted time code is output tothe processor controller 22A.

The frame memory 22C stores the video data supplied from the dataconverting part 22B temporarily. The read/write timing of the framememory 22C is controlled by the processor controller 22A as describedabove. The frame memory 22C is composed of at least two frames, and canstore the video data for at least two frames.

The video data stored in the frame memory 22C is read out based on theread control of the processor controller 22A. The all pixels of thevideo data stored in the frame memory 22C is not read out, but the datais thinned out for each predetermined interval and read out so that thesize of image is smaller than that of the original image. The convertedvideo data having smaller size of image is output to the displaycontroller 23 through the image data bus 20A, in order to be displayedat the predetermined display area of the display 2B as an image forconfirmation of the materials or edited result.

The display controller 23 is a block for controlling the data to bedisplayed on the display 2B. The display controller 23 has a memorycontroller 23A and a video random access memory (VRAM) 23B. The memorycontroller 23A controls the read/write timing of the VRAM 23B inaccordance with the internal synchronization of the work station 2. Inthe VRAM 23, the video data output from the frame memory 22C of thevideo processor 22 and the image data produced by the CPU 21 are storedbased on the timing control signal from the memory controller 23A. Thevideo data and image data stored in the VRAM 23B are read out based onthe timing control signal from the memory controller 23A in accordancewith the internal synchronization of the work station 2, to be displayedon the display 2B.

At this time, the graphic display of the image data becomes to thegraphic display for the GUI. In connection, the image data output fromthe CPU 21 to the VRAM 23B is the image data such as windows, cursor,scroll bars, and icons showing devices.

Thus, in the work station 2, the image data and the video data aredisplayed on the display 2B, so that the GUI for the operator and theimage of materials or edited result are displayed on the display 2B.

The HDD interface 24 is an interface block for communicating with thelocal hard disk drive 24A internally provided in the work station 2. TheHDD interface 24 and the hard disk drive 24A communicate each otherbased on the transmission format of the Small Computer System Interface(SCSI).

The application software which is driven in the work station 2 isinstalled in the hard disk drive 24A. To execute the applicationsoftware, it is read out from the hard disk drive 24A to be up-loaded tothe RAM 21B. When the application software is terminated, variousinformation produced by the edit operation stored in the RAM 21B isdown-loaded to the hard disk via the hard disk drive 24A.

The FDD interface 25 is an interface block for communicating with thefloppy disc drive 25A internally provided in the work station 2. The FDDinterface 25 and the floppy disc drive 25A communicate each other basedon the transmission format of the SCSI.

The pointing device interface 26 is an interface block for receiving theinformation from the key board 2C, mouse 2D, and pen tablet 2E which areconnected to the work station 2. The pointing device interface 26receives the input information from the buttons provided on the keyboard 2C to decode the received input information, and outputs it to theCPU 21. Similarly, the pointing device interface 26 receives thedetection information of a two-dimensional rotary encoder provided inthe mouse 2D and the click information of the left/right buttonsprovided on the mouse 2D (that is, the information selected andspecified by pushing down the buttons) to decode the receivedinformation, and outputs it to the CPU 21. Similarly, the pointingdevice interface 26 receives the two-dimensional positional data fromthe pen tablet 2E to decode the received positional data, and outputs itto the CPU 21. Based on these information output from the pointingdevice interface 26, the CPU 21 can understand which command button isinstructed among the GUI displayed on the display 2B, and understandvarious data input from the key board 2C, so as to perform thecorresponding control.

The external interface 27 is a block for communicating with the devicecontroller 3 connected to the work station 2 externally. The externalinterface 27 has a driver for converting various control command such asreproduction command produced by the CPU 21 and recording command intothe data of a predetermined communication protocol, which outputs thecontrol command data S2 to the device controller 3 through the driver.

(3) The Principle of Edit in the Editing System

In this paragraph, the principle of edit in the editing system 1 will beexplained successively.

(3-1) Basic Construction of the Application Software for Edit

In this paragraph, the basic construction of the application softwarefor edit prepared in the work station 2 will be firstly explained. Asshown in FIG. 3, in the editing system 1, the application software foredit, which is divided into modules according to their function, isprepared in the work station 2. When roughly divided, the applicationsoftware divided into modules is composed of the edit module EM forediting a material such like combining, the composite module CM forcomposing a material such like superimposing, the special effect moduleSM for applying special effects to a material, and the control moduleCNTM for controlling the starting up of the edit module EM, thecomposite module CM, and the special effect module SM which are dividedinto modules according to their functions. When the application softwarehaving such construction is up-loaded from the hard disk drive 24A tothe RAM 21 b, firstly the control module CNTM is started up. Then, eachof the modules EM, CM, and SM is suitably started up under the controlof the control module CNTM in accordance with the instruction from anoperator.

A clip database CDB is composed of the video disk recorder 5 and the RAM21B, and stores the video data of materials and various data relating tothe edit. Each of the modules EM, CM, and SM reads out the materialinstructed by the operator from the clip database CDB, edits thematerial in accordance with the instruction of the operator using thehardware such as the switcher 7 or the digital multi-effector 9described above, and registers the obtained material edited in the clipdatabase CDB. Each of the modules EM, CM, and SM also registers the datarelating to edit such as various parameters used for edit in the clipdatabase CDB. In addition, the clip database CDB mainly stores the videodata of the material in the video disk recorder 5, and stores variousdata relating to edit in the RAM 21B.

(3-2) Definition of Clip

In the editing system 1, each material is handled with a unit calledclip. In this paragraph, the clip will be described. In the editingsystem 1 according to this invention, one sequence of the video movingimage data is defined as clip video data. Data for managing informationthat how the clip video data is produced is defined as clip managementdata. Data consisting the clip video data and the clip management datais defined as clip. Further, in the editing system 1 according to thisinvention, a material produced by only cutting out from the source videodata is called material clip (MC), and a material produced by editingthe material clip is called resultant clip (FC).

In the editing system 1 according to this invention, a plurality ofclips composed of the material clips and the resultant clips are managedwith the hierarchical structure based on the relation between clips.Referring to an example of FIG. 4, the state will be explained below.

In the example of FIG. 4, the resultant clip FC-008 is a clip producedby composing three material clips, the material clip MC-001, thematerial clip MC-002, and the material clip MC-003. That is, therelations between the resultant clip FC-008 and the material clipMC-001, the material clip MC-002, and the material clip MC-003 are inthe relation of up and low. In the relation of up and low, since thematerial clip MC-001, the material clip MC-002, and the material clipMC-003 are under the resultant clip FC-008, they are called lower clips.On the contrary, the resultant clip FC-008 is called upper clip becauseit is produced by composing these lower clips.

Similarly, the resultant clip FC-009 is a clip produced by applying thespecial effect to the material clip MC-004. Therefore, the material clipMC-004 is the lower clip of the resultant clip FC-009. On the contrary,the resultant clip FC-009 is the upper clip of the material clip MC-004.

Further, the resultant clip FC-010 is a resultant clip produced byediting (in this case, combining by wipe, etc.) the resultant clipFC-008 and the resultant clip FC-009. Therefore, the resultant clipFC-008 and the resultant clip FC-009 are respectively the lower clips ofthe resultant clip FC-010. The resultant clip FC-010 is the upper clipof the resultant clip FC-008 and the resultant clip FC-009.

In this way, the relation of up and low exists between respective clips.In the editing system 1, each clip is managed with the hierarchicalstructure based on the relation of up and low between clips in the clipdatabase CDB. In connection, the material clip which is not used foredit have no relation with the other clips. However, the material clipis managed as a clip having no object to link. The example describedhere is one example and other combinations also exist as the relation ofup and low between clips.

(3-3) General Idea of the Composite Processing

Next, in this paragraph, the general idea of the Composite processingperformed in the composite module CM will be explained. The video imageof the resultant clip FC-008 shown in FIG. 4 is produced by composing(that is the composite processing) the video images of the material clipMC-001, the material clip MC-002, and the material clip MC-003. Thegeneral idea of the composite processing is shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.FIG. 5 shows the state of composing the video images of three materialclips MC-001, MC-002, and MC-003. FIG. 6 shows the video image of theresultant clip FC-008 produced by composing.

In the editing system 1 according to this invention, in the case ofcomposing a plurality of clips, each clip is regarded as one layer, andthe layers are piled up so as to compose. In the example of FIG. 5, thematerial clip MC-003 is specified as the first layer L1, the materialclip MC-002 is specified as the second layer L2, and the material clipMC-001 is specified as the third layer L3. In the case of composing thematerial clips assigned to respective layers L1, L2, and L3, the layerL1 is the lowest layer, and respective layers L2, L3 are successivelypiled up thereon. More specifically, the video image of the materialclip MC-002 (e.g., image showing a human) specified as the second layerL2 is piled on the video image of the material clip MC-003 (e.g., imageshowing background) specified as the first layer L1 to compose them, andthe video image of the material clip MC-001 (e.g., image showingcharacters) specified as the third layer L3 is further piled up on thecomposed video image so as to compose them. By this compositeprocessing, the resultant clip FC-008 of the video image such that threematerials are superimposed as shown in FIG. 6 can be produced.

In addition, FIG. 5 shows the example of composing the material clipsMC-003, MC-002, and MC-001 respectively assigned to three layer L1, L2,and L3. However, the editing system 1 of this invention can save tenlayers at maximum, and can compose ten material clips respectivelyassigned from the first layer L1 to tenth layer L10. In connection, inthis case, the first layer L1 is the lowest layer, and the tenth layerhaving the largest layer number is the uppermost layer.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, the composite processing will be furtherexplained with more details. FIG. 7 shows the state that the resultantclip FC-008 is produced by composing the material clip MC-003 specifiedas the first layer L1, the material clip MC-002 specified as the secondlayer L2, and the material clip MC-001 specified as the third layer L3.As shown in FIG. 7, in the resultant clip FC-008, the first editingpoint EP1 to the eighth editing point EP8 are set as an edit start pointof each material clip (which is referred to as in-point), an edit endpoint (which is referred to as out-point), and points for changingparameters of the composition and the image conversion.

The first editing point EP1 indicates the in-point IN3 of the materialclip MC-003, the second editing point EP2 indicates the in-point IN2 ofthe material clip MC-002, the fourth editing point EP4 indicates thein-point IN1 of the material clip MC-001. Further, the sixth editingpoint EP6 indicates the out-point OUT2 of the material clip MC-002, theseventh editing point EP7 indicates the out-point OUT1 of the materialclip MC-001, and the eighth editing point EP8 indicates the out-pointOUT3 of the material clip MC-003. In addition, the third editing pointEP3 and the fifth editing point EP5 are the editing points set forchanging the composite parameter of each layer. The editing points EP3and EP5 will be described in details later.

As shown in FIG. 7, each clip has the original internal time codestarting from the head position of the video data of each clip. Forexample, the material clip MC-003 specified as the first layer L1 hasthe internal time line t3 starting from the head position S3 of thevideo data, the material clip MC-002 specified as the second layer L2has the internal time line t2 starting from the head position S2 of thevideo data, and the material clip MC-001 specified as the third layer L3has the internal time line t1 starting from the head position S1 of thevideo data.

Similarly, the resultant clip FC-008 has the internal time line t8starting from the head position S8 of the video data. The time codes ofthe first editing point EP1 to the eighth editing point EP8 arerespectively defined by the time codes on the time lines t8 of theresultant clip FC-008.

The in-point IN3 and out-point OUT3 of the material clip MC-003 aredefined by the time line t3 of the material clip MC-003, and their timecodes are “00:00:31:02” and “00:05:18:02” respectively. Accordingly, thetime code of the in-point IN3 corresponds to the time code “00:00:00:00”of the first editing point EP1 in the resultant clip FC-008, and thetime code of the out-point OUT3 corresponds to the time code“00:04:47:00” of the eighth editing point EP8 in the resultant clipFC-008.

Similarly, The in-point IN2 and out-point OUT2 of the material clipMC-002 are defined by the time line t2 of the material clip MC-002, andtheir time codes are “00:00:51:00” and “00:03:04:20” respectively.Accordingly, the time code of the in-point IN2 corresponds to the timecode “00:00:42:20” of the second editing point EP2 in the resultant clipFC-008, and the time code of the out-point OUT2 corresponds to the timecode “00:02:59:20” of the sixth editing point EP6 in the resultant clipFC-008.

Similarly, The in-point IN1 and out-point OUT1 of the material clipMC-001 are defined by the time line t1 of the material clip MC-001, andtheir time codes are “00:01:40:03” and “00:02:45:48” respectively.Accordingly, the time code of the in-point IN1 corresponds to the timecode “00:01:56:00” of the fourth editing point EP4 in the resultant clipFC-008, and the time code of the out-point OUT1 corresponds to the timecode “00:03:19:45” of the seventh editing point EP7 in the resultantclip FC-008.

Therefore, when the resultant clip FC-008 is reproduced, the video imageof the material clip MC-003 is output during the period from the firstediting point EP1 to the second editing point EP2. The video image ofwhich the material clip MC-002 is composed on the material clip MC-003is output during the period from the second editing point EP2 to thefourth editing point EP4. The video image of which the material clipMC-002 and the material clip MC-001 are composed on the material clipMC-003 is output during the period from the fourth editing point EP4 tothe sixth editing point EP6. The video image of which the material clipMC-001 is composed on the material clip MC-003 is output during theperiod from the sixth editing point EP6 to the seventh editing pointEP7. Then, the video image of the material clip MC-003 is output duringthe period from the seventh editing point EP7 to the eighth editingpoint EP8.

In addition, the example described here is one example and othercombinations also exist as a combination of clips to be composed.

(3-4) General Idea of the Special Effect Processing

Next, in this paragraph, the general idea of the special effectprocessing which is performed in the special effect module SM will beexplained. The resultant clip FC-009 shown in FIG. 4 is a clip producedby applying the special effect to the material clip MC-004. In order tomake it easy to understand, four special effects, the mosaic effect, thecrop effect, the three-dimensional transform, and the trail effect areapplied to the material clip MC-004, and the general idea of the specialeffect processing is explained referring to FIG. 8.

As show in FIG. 8, in this example, to the material clip MC-004, themosaic effect is specified as the first special effect E1, the cropeffect is specified as the second special effect E2, thethree-dimensional transform is specified as the third special effect E3,and the trail effect is specified as the fourth special effect.

In this case, the mosaic effect is the effect that the video image isdivided into tile pieces to show it like a mosaic picture. In theediting system 1 according to this invention, parameters relating to themosaic effect can be set to arbitrary values, so that the size of a tilepiece and the aspect ratio can be set to arbitrary values.

The crop effect is the effect that a part of the video image is cut outby reducing the picture frame, which is called the cut-out effectbecause a part of the video image is cut out. In the editing system 1according to this invention, parameters relating to the crop effect canbe set to arbitrary values, so that the position of the right and leftside of the picture frame, the position of the top and bottom side ofthe picture frame, and the gradation of the edges can be set toarbitrary values.

The three-dimensional transform is the effect that an image is virtuallytransformed on the three-dimensional space. For example, it is the imagetransform for rotating the image using the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis asa shaft, and for transferring the image into the X-axis, Y-axis, orZ-axis direction, when the horizontal direction of the image is definedas X-axis, the vertical direction is defined as Y-axis, and the depthdirection is defined as Z-axis. In the editing system 1 according tothis invention, parameters relating to the three-dimensional transformcan be set to arbitrary values, so that the image can be transformedarbitrarily.

The trail effect is the effect that when the image is transferredspatially, the image is frozen as a still image for a predeterminedperiod, and the frozen image is left as an afterimage. Generally, it iscalled recursive effect. In the editing system 1 according to thisinvention, parameters relating to the trail effect can be set toarbitrary values, so that the period for freezing the image and theperiod for leaving the image as an afterimage can be set arbitrarily.

Also in the special effect processing, as shown in FIG. 8, in theresultant clip FC-009, the first editing point EP1 to the seventhediting point EP7 are set as an edit start point (in-point), an edit endpoint (out-point), and the parameter changing point of the imagetransform.

The first editing point EP1 indicates the in-point IN4 of the materialclip MC-004, the start point of the mosaic effect, and the start pointof the crop effect. The second editing point EP2 indicates the startpoint of the three-dimensional transform. The fourth editing point EP4indicates the start point of the trail effect. The seventh editing pointEP7 indicates the out-point OUT4 of the material clip MC-004, the endpoint of the mosaic effect, the end point of the crop effect, the endpoint of the three-dimensional transform, and the end point of the traileffect. In addition, the third editing point EP3, the fifth editingpoint EP5, and the sixth editing point EP6 are editing points set tochange parameters of the three-dimensional transform. These editingpoints EP3, EP5 and EP6 will be described later.

In the case of special effect, similar to the composite processing, thematerial clip MC-004 and the resultant clip FC-009 respectively have theinternal time lines t4, t9 expressed by the original internal time codesstarting from the head position of the video data of respective clips.The time codes of the first editing point EP1 to the seventh editingpoint EP7 described above are defined by the time codes on the time linet9 of the resultant clip FC-009.

The in-point IN4 and the out-point OUT4 of the material clip MC-004 arerespectively defined by the time line t4 of the material clip MC-004.Their time codes are “00:10:12:00” and “00:12:18:00” respectively.Accordingly, the time code of the in-point IN4 corresponds to the timecode “00:00:00:00” of the first editing point EP1 in the resultant clipFC-009, and the time code of the out-point OUT4 corresponds to the timecode “00:02:06:00” of the seventh editing point EP7 in the resultantclip FC-009.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the start point of the mosaic effectspecified as the first special effect E1 is the first editing point EP1that the time code in the resultant clip FC-009 is “00:00:00:00”. Theend point of the mosaic effect is the seventh editing point EP7 that thetime code in the resultant clip FC-009 is “00:02:06:00”.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 8, the start point of the crop effectspecified as the second special effect E2 is the first editing point EP1that the time code in the resultant clip FC-009 is “00:00:00:00”. Theend point of the crop effect is the seventh editing point EP7 that thetime code in the resultant clip FC-009 is “00:02:06:00”.

Also, the start point of the three-dimensional transform specified asthe third special effect E3 is the second editing point EP2 that thetime code in the resultant clip FC-009 is “00:00:12:03”. The end pointof the three-dimensional transform is the seventh editing point EP7 thatthe time code in the resultant clip FC-009 is “00:02:06:00”.

Also, the start point of the trail effect specified as the fourthspecial effect E4 is the fourth editing point EP4 that the time code inthe resultant clip FC-009 is “00:01:02:50”. The end point of the traileffect is the seventh editing point EP7 that the time code in theresultant clip FC-009 is “00:02:06:00”.

Therefore, when the resultant clip FC-009 is reproduced, the video imageof which the mosaic effect and the crop effect are applied to the videoimage of the material clip MC-004 is output during the period from thefirst editing point EP1 to the second editing point EP2. The video imageof which the mosaic effect, the crop effect, and the three-dimensionaltransform are applied to the video image of the material clip MC-004 isoutput during the period from the second editing point EP2 to the fourthediting point EP4. The video image of which the mosaic effect, the cropeffect, the three-dimensional transform, and the trail effect areapplied to the video image of the material clip MC-004 is output duringthe period from the fourth editing point EP4 to the seventh editingpoint EP7.

(3-5) General Idea of the Edit Processing

In this paragraph, the general idea of the edit processing performed inthe edit module EM will be explained. The resultant clip FC-010 shown inFIG. 4 is a clip produced by editing the resultant clip FC-008 and theresultant clip FC-009. In order to make it easy to understand, supposingthat the edit processing is performed with the wipe effect, the generalidea of the edit processing is explained referring to FIG. 9.

As shown in FIG. 9, in this example, the resultant clip FC-008 isspecified as the first layer L1 and the resultant clip FC-009 isspecified as the second layer L2. The wipe effect is specified as aprocessing of changing from the resultant clip FC-008 specified as thefirst layer L1 to the resultant clip FC-009 specified as the secondlayer L2. Note that in the edit processing, since the video data is notsuperimposed like a composite processing, but the video data arecombined, the temporally earlier video data is specified as the firstlayer L1 and the temporally later video data is specified as the secondlayer L2.

Further, the wipe effect specified as the change processing is atransition effect for wiping an old picture displayed at present with anew picture to change the picture displayed on a screen. In connection,the wipe effect specified in the example shown in FIG. 9 is the wipeeffect that the picture is changed from the left side of the picture tothe right side when the image of the resultant clip FC-008 is changedinto the image of the resultant clip FC-009.

Also, in this edit processing, as shown in FIG. 9, in the resultant clipFC-010, the first editing point EP1 to the fifth editing point EP5 areset as an edit start point (in-point) of each clip, an edit end point(out-point), and the parameter changing point of the edit.

The first editing point EP1 indicates the in-point IN8 of the resultantclip FC-008. The second editing point EP2 indicates the start point ofthe wipe effect and the in-point IN9 of the resultant clip FC-009. Thefourth editing point EP4 indicates the end point of the wipe effect andthe out-point OUT8 of the resultant clip FC-008. The fifth editing pointEP5 indicates the out-point OUT9 of the resultant clip FC-009. Here, thethird editing point EP3 is an editing point set for changing the effectparameters of the wipe effect. The editing point EP3 will be describedin details later.

Similarly to the composite processing and the special effect processingdescribed above, the resultant clips FC-008, FC-009, and FC-010 have theinternal time lines t8, t9, and t10 expressed by the original internaltime codes starting from the head position of the video data ofrespective clips. The first editing point EP1 to the fifth editing pointEP5 described above are defined by the time codes on the time line t10of the resultant clip FC-010.

The in-point IN8 and the out-point OUT8 of the resultant clip FC-008 arerespectively defined by the time line t8 of the resultant clip FC-008,and the time codes are “00:01:01:20” and “00:04:43:00” respectively.Accordingly, the time code of the in-point IN8 corresponds to the timecode “00:00:00:00” of the first editing point EP1 in the resultant clipFC-010, and the time code of the out-point OUT8 corresponds to the timecode “00:03:42:00” of the fourth editing point EP4 in the resultant clipFC-010.

Similarly, the in-point IN9 and the out-point OUT9 of the resultant clipFC-009 are respectively defined by the time line t9 of the resultantclip FC-009, and their time codes are “00:00:00:50” and “00:02:06:00”respectively. Accordingly, the time code of the in-point IN9 correspondsto the time code “00:03:39:00” of the second editing point EP2 in theresultant clip FC-010, and the time code of the out-point OUT9corresponds to the time code “00:05:44:10” of the fifth editing pointEP5 in the resultant clip FC-010.

Further, the start point of the wipe effect set to change the image ofthe resultant clip FC-008 and the image of the resultant clip FC-009 isset to the second editing point EP2 in the resultant clip FC-010, andset to “00:03:39:00” as a time code. Also, the end point of the wipeeffect is set to the fourth editing point EP4 in the resultant clipFC-010, and set to “00:03:42:00” as a time code.

Therefore, when the resultant clip FC-010 is reproduced, the video imageof the resultant clip FC-008 is output during the period from the firstediting point EP1 to the second editing point EP2. The image such thatthe video image of the resultant clip FC-008 is successively changed tothe video image of the resultant clip FC-009 is output by the wipeeffect, from the left side of the screen toward the right side, duringthe period from the second editing point EP2 to the fourth editing pointEP4. The image of the resultant clip FC-009 is output during the fourthediting point EP4 to the fifth editing point EP5.

(4) Graphic Display displayed as GUI

Next, in this paragraph, the screen of the GUI displayed on the display2B of the work station 2 when each module is started up will beexplained.

(4-1) GUI when the Composite Module is Started up

First, in this paragraph, the GUT when the composite module CM isstarted up is explained. In the editing system 1, the graphic displayshown in FIG. 10 is displayed as a GUI of the composite module CM on thedisplay 2B of the work station 2, when the composite module CM isstarted up.

As shown in FIG. 10, when roughly divided, the GUI of the compositemodule CM is composed of a menu window 30, a clip tree window 31, a keywindow 32, a library window 33, a time line window 34, a parametersetting window 35, a preview screen display window 36, a device controlwindow 37, an edit content display window 38, and a control commandwindow 39.

The menu window 30 is an area for displaying the top menu prepared inthe editing system 1. In addition, the menu window 30 is displayed afterthe control module CNTM is started up.

In the editing system 1 according to this invention, for example, a fileread menu, an initial setting menu, and a module start-up menu, etc. areprepared as the top menu. When the file read menu is specified bypushing down the button of the mouse 2D (hereinafter, the specificationaction using the mouse is referred to as click), the list of theresultant clips which have been already registered is displayed. Adesired resultant clip is selected by click operation among from thelist to read the edit content of the selected resultant clip onto thetime line window 34 described later. Thus, if the resultant clip alreadyregistered is modified, the file read menu is used to read the resultantclip, and the resultant clip can be modified.

Further, when the initial setting menu is selected by click operation,various setting items are read out. A desired item is selected amongfrom the various items to display a setting screen for the selected itemis displayed. Thus, if a desired item is initially set, the settingscreen of the item is read out from the initial setting menu, and thedesired Devalue for the item can be set.

Further, when the module start-up menu is selected by click operation,the commands for starting up the composite module CM, the special effectmodule SM, and the edit module EM are displayed. A desired command isselected among from them to start up the selected module and the GUIcorresponding to the module is displayed on the screen. In fact, the GUIof the composite module CM shown in FIG. 10 is a screen obtained bystarting up the composite module CM from the module start-up menu.

The clip tree window 31 is an area for displaying the graphic display tovisually obtain the hierarchical relation of clips registered in theclip database. When the hierarchical relation of clips is that shown inFIG. 4, the clip tree shown in FIG. 10 is displayed in accordance withthe hierarchical relation. More specifically, in this case, since theuppermost clip is the resultant clip FC-010, the clip name of theresultant clip FC-010 “FC-010” is displayed on the uppermost position ofthe clip tree window 31. As a result, lower clips being linked to theresultant clip FC-010 at a lower position are the resultant clip FC-008and the resultant clip FC-009. The clip name of these lower clips“FC-008” and “FC-009” are displayed below the resultant clip FC-010being an upper clip and displayed in parallel at the position shiftingtoward the right side by one stage. At this time, a line connecting theresultant clip FC-010 and the resultant clip FC-008 and a lineconnecting the resultant clip FC-010 and the resultant clip FC-009 aredisplayed, so as to show that the resultant clips FC-010, FC-008 andFC-009 have the hierarchical relation.

Further, lower clips being linked to the resultant clip FC-008 at alower position are the material clip MC-001, the material clip MC-002,and the material clip MC-003. The clip names of the lower clips“MC-001”, “MC-002”, and “MC-003” are displayed below the resultant clipFC-008 being an upper clip and displayed in parallel at the positionshifting toward the right side by more one stage. As this time, a lineconnecting the resultant clip FC-008 and the material clip MC-001, aline connecting the resultant clip FC-008 and the material clip MC-002,and a line connecting the resultant clip FC-008 and the material clipMC-003 are displayed, so as to show that the clips FC-008, MC-001,MC-002, and MC-003 have the hierarchical relation.

In the similar way, lower clips being linked to the resultant clipFC-009 at a lower position is the material clip MC-004. The clip name ofthe lower clip “MC-004” is displayed below the resultant clip FC-009being an upper clip, and displayed at the position shifting toward theright side by one stage. As this time, a line connecting the resultantclip FC-009 and the material clip MC-004 is displayed, so as to showthat the clips FC-009 and MC-004 have the hierarchical relation.

In this way, in the clip tree window 31, the clip names of clips aredisplayed like a tree, so as to immediately understand the relationbetween clips registered in a database visually.

In addition, the clip whose clip name is surrounded by a frame with abold line is a clip being displayed at present to be edited. Moreover, ascroll button 31A of the left and right direction is displayed at thebottom position of the clip tree window 31. The scroll button 31A isoperated by using the mouse 2D, so that the displayed clip tree can bescrolled in the right and left direction.

Similarly, a scroll button 31B of the up and down direction is displayedat the right side position of the clip tree window 31. The scroll button31B is operated, so that the displayed clip tree can be scrolled in theup and down direction.

The key window 32 is an area for displaying key selection buttons todesignate a key processing for the clip to be edited. A desired buttonis selected among from them to designate the desired key processing forthe clip to be edited. At this time, as shown in FIG. 10, the keyselection buttons such as a luminance key button, a liner key button, aclean key button, a pattern key button, and an external key button areprepared.

In this connection, the key processing is a processing of hollowing outthe area based on the key signal from the video image and puttinganother image into there. Further, the luminance key is a key processingfor performing a hollowing-out processing based on the luminance signalcontained in the key signal. The liner key is a kind of the luminancekey, which is a key processing that the changeable width of the gainbecomes narrower than that of the luminance key. The clean key is aprocessing for putting the image to be put into without thehollowing-out in the key processing. Further, the pattern key is a keyprocessing for cutting out based on the wipe pattern. The external keyis a key processing for performing based on the key signal supplied fromthe external device.

Also in the key window 32, a scroll button 32A of the left and rightdirection is displayed at the bottom position of the key window 32. Thescroll button 32A is operated so that the displayed key selectionbuttons can be scrolled in the right and left direction. Similarly, ascroll button 32B of the up and down direction is displayed at the rightside position of the key window 32. The scroll button 32B is operated sothat the displayed key selection buttons can be scrolled in the up anddown direction.

The library window 33 is an area for displaying the list of the materialclips or the resultant clips registered in the clip database. A desiredclip is selected among from the clips displayed on the library window 33to designate the selected clip as the clip to be edited. The librarywindow 33 will be described in details later.

The time line window 34 is an area for placing the clips to be edited onthe time axis to designate the content of edit. On the time line window34 displayed at the composite module CM, the contents relating to thecomposite processing are displayed. The time line window 34 is dividedinto areas. When roughly divided successively from the top, a time codedisplay area (Time Code), an editing point display area (Edit Point), apreview extent display area (Preview), and a clip specifying area (L1 toL10).

The time code display area is an area for displaying the time code atthe editing point. The time code is a time code on the time line of theresultant clip produced based on the edit contents designated on thetime line window 34.

The editing point display area is an area for indicating a point set asan editing point by a triangle mark. For example, when the compositeprocessing shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 7 is specified, the editing pointsEP1 to EP8 are indicated by using a triangle mark.

The preview extent display area is an area for indicating the extent ofthe video data displayed on the preview screen display window 36 when apreview button or a view button which is described later is operated. Inthis example, the section between the editing point EP1 and the editingpoint EP8 are set as the display extent, and a bar showing the sectionis displayed.

The clip specifying area is an area for specifying to each layer theclip to be edit to which the composite processing is applied. In theediting system 1, ten layers of the layer L1 to the layer L10 areprepared, and the clip being the material of the composite processingcan be specified to each layer. In addition, since the display extent ofthe clip specifying area is limited (as shown in the figure, it is forabout five layers), the layers L1 to L10 can not be displayed alltogether. However, the scroll button 34A displayed at the right side ofthe clip specifying area is operated so that the clip specifying areacan be scrolled in the up and down direction. Therefore, a desired layercan be displayed.

Among ten layers L1 to L10, the layer L1 is a layer for specifying theclip being the base (lowermost) image at the time of compositeprocessing. The layers L2 to L10 are layers for specifying the clipswhich are piled up on the base image. In addition, as the number oflayer becomes larger, the hierarchy of layer becomes higher. Here, thelayer L10 is the highest layer.

Each of the layers L1 to L10 is divided into a video area (Video) forspecifying the clip to be composed and a key area (Key) for specifyingthe key processing performed on the specified clip. In this case, therectangular graphic image (hereinafter, referred to as cell) indicatingthe clip is placed on the video area, so as to set the clip to thelayer. Similarly, the cell indicating the key processing is placed onthe key area, so as to set the key processing to the clip which isspecified to the layer.

Here, as shown in FIG. 10, to set the material clip MC-003 to the layerL1, the material clip MC-003 is clicked on the clip tree window 31 orthe material clip MC-003 is clicked on the library window 33, so as toselect the material clip MC-003. Such processing is performed to displaythe cell of the material clip MC-003. The cell is transferred to thevideo area of the layer L1 and placed at a desired position, so that thematerial clip MC-003 is set to the layer L1.

Similarly, to set the external key to the layer L1, the external keybutton is clicked on the key window 32, so as to select the externalkey. Such processing is performed to display the cell indicating theexternal key. The cell is placed at the key area of the layer L1, sothat the external key is set to the layer L1. In connection, theoperation of setting the clip or key processing to the layers L2 to L10is same as the operation of setting to the layer L1 described above.

In addition, the length of the cell indicating the clip corresponds tothe duration (time period from the start to the end of clip) of theclip. The cell indicating the key processing makes a pair with the clipplaced at the video area, and has the same length as the clip placed atthe video area. The characters showing the clip name or key processingname is displayed on each cell, so as to understand at a glance whichclip or key processing is set.

Also, when the resultant clip placed and displayed at the clipspecifying area is selected by double-clicking, the module which hasproduced the resultant clip (that is, the composite module CM, thespecial effect module SM, or the edit module EM) is started up, and thecontent of edit performed on the resultant clip is displayed on the timeline window of the GUI of the corresponding module.

The parameter setting window 35 is an area for setting variousparameters relating to edit. On the parameter setting window 35displayed at the time of starting-up the composite module CM, thecontent relating to the composite processing is displayed as a matter ofcourse, and as shown in FIG. 10, the graphic display for setting thegain of the composite processing is displayed.

In this case, the gain of the composite processing is the compositeratio when the video data is piled up. More specifically, when the gainis 100%, the upper video data is piled up on the lower video data sothat the lower video data is completely not viewed. For example, whenthe gain is 50%, the upper video data is piled up on the lower videodata so that an approximately half of the lower video data is viewedtransparently. When the gain is 0%, the upper video data is piled up sothat it is not viewed and the lower video data is completely viewedtransparently.

In addition, the horizontal axis (i.e., time axis) of the parametersetting window 35 corresponds to that of the time line window 34described above, and the change point of the parameters can bedetermined with referring to the contents of the composite processingspecified on the time line window 34. In connection, regarding to thehorizontal direction, that is the left and right direction, the scrollbutton 35A placed at the bottom side of the parameter setting window 35is operated so as to scroll the graphic image of the parameter settingwindow 35 in the direction of left and right. As this time, since thehorizontal axis of the time line window 34 corresponds to that of theparameter setting window 35, the graphic image of the time line window34 and the graphic image of the parameter setting window 35 are linkedand scrolled in the direction of left and right at the same time. Inaddition, regarding to the up and down direction, the scroll button 35Bplaced at the right side of the parameter setting window 35 is operatedso as to scroll the graphic image of the parameter setting window 35 inthe direction of up and down.

Here, to set the gain of the clip specified to each layer, a desiredlayer number is first clicked among from the layer numbers displayed atthe left corner of the parameter setting window 35 to specify the layerof which parameter is set next. Then, a point of which parameter ischanged is decided and the gain value to be set is decided, with viewingthe content of the composite processing specified on the time linewindow 34. The position corresponding to the decided point and value isclicked at the parameter setting window 35 consisting the vertical axisbeing the gain value and the horizontal axis being time. Thereby, thegain value and the gain changing point corresponding to the clickedposition are registered automatically.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, to set the gain of the material clipMC-003 specified to the layer L1 to 100%, if the positions where thegain is 100% are clicked at the positions of the in-point and theout-point of the material clip MC-003, the gain of the material clipMC-003 from the in-point to the out-point are all set to 100%. In theediting system 1, since the set values are interpolated between theparameter setting points so as to be successive values and theinterpolated values are automatically set. If the same values are set attwo parameter setting points in the above way, all values between twopoints are set to the same values.

Further, regarding the material clip MC-002 set to the layer L2, to setthe case where the gain to 59% at the in-point (the editing point EP2),the gain to 100% at the position a little before the point where thematerial clip MC-003 is piled up (the editing point EP3), and the gainto 0% at the out-point (the editing point EP6), the corresponding pointsmay be clicked respectively on the parameter setting window 35. Thus,the set gain values are automatically registered in the clip database.In addition, during the period between the editing point EP2 to theediting point EP3 and the period between the editing point EP3 to theediting point EP6, the gain values are interpolated so as to be linearand successive values based on the values set at respective editingpoints, and the interpolated values are automatically set.

Similarly, regarding the material clip MC-003 set to the layer L3, toset the case where the gain to 100% at the in-point (the editing pointEP4), the gain to 67% at the approximately center position of thematerial (the editing point EP5), and the gain to 51% at the out-point(the editing point EP7), the corresponding points may be clickedrespectively on the parameter setting window 35. Thus, the set gainvalues are automatically registered in the clip database. In addition,also in this case, during the period between the editing point EP4 tothe editing point EP5 and the period between the editing point EP5 tothe editing point EP7, the gain values are interpolated so as to belinear and successive values based on the values set at respectiveediting points, and the interpolated values are automatically set.

In this way, if the gain values are set as described above, the gainvalues are successively changed at respective timings. Therefore, thepicture of such image can be obtained that after the video data of thematerial clip MC-002 is gradually viewed on the video data of thematerial clip MC-003, the video data of the material clip MC-001 isfurther viewed on these video data, thereafter, the video data of thematerial clip MC-002 and the material clip MC-001 gradually becomefaint.

In addition, in the parameter setting window 35, as shown in FIG. 10,the values of the set parameters are displayed correspondingly to theediting points as a graph having the horizontal axis being time and thevertical axis being gain values. Thereby, an operator looks the displayand can visually understand at a glance the parameter, the layer, andthe timing which have been set.

The preview window 36 is an area for displaying the video data of thematerial clip or the resultant clip, when the preview button, the viewbutton, the all preview button, or the all view button described lateris operated. The provision of this display area makes it possible toconfirm the video image of the material clip or the resultant clipproduced as a result of edit, while edit works is being performed.

The device control window 37 is an area for displaying the commandbuttons for controlling the operation of the video disk recorder 5 inwhich the video data of clips are stored. As shown in FIG. 10, areproduction button 37A, a stop button 37B, and six skip buttons 37C to37H are provided as command buttons. In this case, the reproductionbutton 37A is a command button for sending the reproduction command tothe video disk recorder 5. The stop button is a command button forsending the reproduction stop command to the video disk recorder 5. Theskip buttons 37C, 37D are command buttons for sending to the video diskrecorder 5 the skip command for skipping the reproduction position toone frame forward or one frame backward. The skip buttons 37E, 37F arecommand buttons for sending to the video disk recorder 5 the skipcommand for skipping the reproduction position to one editing pointforward or one editing point backward. The skip buttons 37G, 37H arecommand buttons for sending to the video disk recorder 5 the skipcommand for skipping the reproduction position to the head position orthe end position of the video data. The provision of these commandbuttons makes it possible to easily control the operation of the videodisk recorder 5 while edit works is being performed.

The edit content display window 38 is called co-time line, and an areafor displaying the content of edit specified on the time line window 34.In the time line window 34, since all contents of edit can not bedisplayed all together because of the restriction of the screen, thegraphic image that the content of edit is reduced is displayed on theedit content display window 38, so as to easily understand which contentof edit is specified as a whole. For example, in the case where thecontent of edit such like that three material clips MC-003, MC-002 andMC-001 described above are composed is specified on the time line window34, the graphic image such that three bar graphic images showing theclips specified to respective layers are superimposed is displayed onthe edit content display window 38. Therefore, an operator looks thedisplay, and can entirely understand the contents of the edit specified,which is the composite processing of three clips.

In addition, in the edit content display window 38, also in the casewhere the resultant clip, which is displayed on the library window 33and the clip tree window 31 and which has been already registered in theclip database, is selected, the graphic image showing the edit contentof the resultant clip is displayed. Therefore, also in the case wherethe resultant clip displayed on the library window 33 and the clip treewindow 31 is selected during the edition on the time line window 34, thecontents of edit specified to the selected resultant clip can be easilyobtained.

Finally, the control command window 39 is an area for displaying thelist of the control commands used in the editing system 1. As shown inFIG. 10, for example, the control commands to be displayed have aneditor button (Editor), a composite button (Composite), a special effectbutton (S-Effect), a preview button (Preview), a view button (View), anall preview button (All Preview), and an all view button (All View),etc.

The editor button, the composite button, and the special effect buttonare buttons for starting up the respective modules for edit. Morespecifically, the editor button is a button for starting up the editmodule EM. The editor button is clicked to start up the edit module EMeven if the composite module CM has been driven for instance. Further,the composite button is a button for starting up the composite moduleCM. The composite button is clicked to start up the composite module CMeven if the special effect module SM has been driven for instance.Further, the special effect button is a button for starting up thespecial effect module SM. The special effect button is clicked to startup the special effect module SM even if the edit module EM has beendriven for instance.

On the other hand, the preview button, the view button, the all previewbutton, and the all view button are buttons for confirming the contentof the material clip or the resultant clip. More specifically, thepreview button is a button used for displaying the video data of theselected clip on the preview picture display window 36. When the previewbutton is operated, since the edit content specified is not executed,the displayed video data may be different from the final result (thevideo data of the final result is displayed when the edit content hasbeen already executed and the video data corresponding to the editcontent has been produced.). However, when the preview button isoperated, the display is immediately started, and it is used in the caseof checking the length of clip in the edit process.

The view button is a button used for displaying the video data of theselected clip on the preview picture display window 36. The view buttonis different from the preview button, and the specified edit content isexecuted. Thus, when the view button is operated, although it takes timeto display, the video data after edit can be confirmed.

The all preview button is a button used for displaying the video datafrom the first clip to be edited to the last clip to be edited on thepreview picture display window 36 without selection of clip. Also in theall preview button, the specified edit content is not executed same asthat of the preview button.

The all view button is a button used for executing the edit contentspecified to all clips to be edited and for displaying the video data onthe preview picture display window 36. The all view button is operatedso that the specified edit content is executed and the video data of thelast result can be confirmed. When the edit content is executed, theproduced clip vide data is automatically stored in the video diskrecorder 5 and registered in the clip database CDB.

(4-2) GUI when the Special Effect Module is Started up

Next, in this paragraph, the GUI when the special effect module SM isstarted up will be explained. In the editing system 1, when the specialeffect module SM is started up, the graphic display shown in FIG. 11 isdisplayed as a GUI of the special effect module SM on the display 2B ofthe work station 2.

As shown in FIG. 11, when roughly divided, the GUI of the special effectmodule SM is composed of a menu window 30, a clip tree window 31, aneffect selection window 40, a library window 33, a time line window 41,a parameter setting window 42, a preview screen display window 36, adevice control window 37, an edit content display window 38, and acontrol command window 39.

Note that among the windows displayed on the GUI of the special effectmodule, the menu window 30, the clip tree window 31, the library window33, the preview screen display window 36, the device control window 37,the edit content display window 38 and the control command window 39 aresame as that of the composite module CM described above, so that theexplanation will be omitted here.

First, the effect selection window 40 is an area for selecting thespecial effect performed on the video data of clip, and the commandbuttons of various special effects are displayed thereon. The commandbuttons to be displayed are a three-dimensional button for specifyingthe three-dimensional transform, a trail button for specifying the trailprocessing which adds an afterimage, a brick button for specifying thebrick processing which puts the video image on the plane of a cube androtates it, a shadow button for specifying the shadow processing whichadds a shadow to the video data, a mix button for specifying the mixprocessing which mixes the video data, a light button for specifying thelight processing which lights up an object from one direction to add theshadow, a crop button for specifying the crop processing which cuts outa predetermined area from the video data, and so on.

In the effect selection window 40, to select a desired special effect,the editing point on which the special effect is performed is designatedon the time line window 41, and then the command button corresponding tothe desired special effect is clicked so as to automatically specify thespecial effect.

The time line window 41 is an area for placing the clip to be edited onthe time axis to designate the content of edit, On the time line window41 displayed in the special effect module SM, the contents relating tothe special effect processing are displayed. The time line window 41 isdivided into areas. When roughly divided successively from the top, theareas are a time code display area (Time Code), an editing point displayarea (Edit Point), a preview extent display area (Preview), and a clipand special effect specifying area (L1 to L10).

The time code display area is an area for displaying the time code atthe editing point. The time code is a time code on the time line of theresultant clip produced based on the edit content designated on the timeline window 41.

The editing point display area is an area for indicating a point set asan editing point by a triangle mark. For example, when the specialeffect processing shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 is specified, the editingpoints EP1 to EP7 are indicated by using triangle marks.

The preview extent display area is an area for indicating the extent ofthe video data displayed on the preview screen display window 36 when apreview button and a view button which are described above are operated.In this example, the section between the editing point EP1 and theediting point EP7 (that is, the whole resultant clip FC-009) are set asthe display extent, and a bar showing the section is displayed.

The clip and special effect specifying area is an area for specifyingfor each layer the special effect applied to the clip. In the editingsystem 1, ten layers of the layer L1 to the layer L10 are prepared, sothat the clips to be special-effect processed can be specified torespective layers. Note that the display extent of the clip and specialeffect specifying area is limited (as shown in the figure, it is forabout two layers), and the layers L1 to L10 can not be displayed alltogether. However, the scroll button 41A displayed at the right side ofthe clip and special effect specifying area is operated so that the clipand special effect specifying area can be scrolled in the up and downdirection. Therefore, a desired layer can be displayed.

Each of the layers L1 to L10 is divided into areas which consists fourspecial effect areas (E1 to E4), a video area (Video) for specifying theclip to which the special effect is applied and a key area (Key) forspecifying the key processing performed on the specified clip. Thespecial effect specifying area is an area for designating the specialeffect applied to the clip registered in the video area. Four specialeffect specifying areas are provided for one layer, so that four specialeffects can be applied to one clip at the same time. For example, asshown in FIG. 11, if the mosaic processing is specified as the specialeffect E1, the crop processing is specified as the special effect E2,the three-dimensional transform is specified as the special effect E3,and the trail processing is specified as the special effect E4, fourspecial effects can be applied to the clip MC-004 specified in the videoarea.

To set the special effect in the special effect specifying area, theediting points are previously designated to specify the extent to whichthe special effect is applied, and a desired command button is clickedon the effect selection window 40. Then, the cell indicating theselected special effect is displayed. The cell is placed on the specialeffect specifying area, so as to set the special effect automatically.

To set the clip in the video area, the clip displayed on the librarywindow 33 is clicked first or the clip displayed on the clip tree window31 is clicked, so as to select the clip to be edited. Such processing isperformed to display the cell of the selected clip. The cell is placedat a desired position of the video area, so that the clip is set to thevideo area.

Further, to set the key processing in the key area, when the portion of“Key” of the key area is clicked, the effect selection window 40 ischanged into the key window 32 described above. A desired key button isclicked to select the key processing. Such processing is performed todisplay the cell indicating the selected key processing. The cell isplaced at the key area, so that the key processing is automatically set.

In addition, when the resultant clip already placed and displayed at thevideo area is selected by double-clicking, the module of which theresultant clip is produced (that is, the composite module CM, thespecial effect module SM, or the edit module EM) is started up, and thecontent of edit applied to the resultant clip is displayed on the timeline window of the GUI of the corresponding module.

The parameter setting window 42 is an area for setting parameters ofspecial effect processing specified by an operator. In the parametersetting window 42, if the command button of the effect selection window40 is clicked, a parameter setting screen relating to the clickedspecial effect is displayed. For example, if the 3D button is clicked onthe effect selection window 40 to specify the three-dimensionaltransform, the parameter setting screen relating to thethree-dimensional transform shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on theparameter setting window 42.

As shown in FIG. 11, the parameters in the three-dimensional transformare the position in the three-dimensional space (X, Y, Z), the rotatingdirection in the three-dimensional space (X, Y, Z), the aspect ratio(Asp) indicating the ratio of length and breadth of image, the skew(Skew) which is parameter of the distortion, and the perspective value(Pers) representing the value of far and near. These values ofparameters can be set to arbitrary values between the maximum settingextent MAX and the minimum setting extent MIN using a default value(=“0”) as a standard value.

The horizontal axis (i.e., time axis) of the parameter setting window 42corresponds to that of the time line window 41 each other, and thechange point of the parameters can be determined with referring to thecontent of the special effect processing specified at the time linewindow 41. In connection, regarding to the horizontal direction, that isthe left and right direction, the scroll button 42A placed at the bottomside of the parameter setting window 42 is operated so as to scroll thegraphic image on the parameter setting window 42 in the direction ofleft and right. At this time, since the horizontal axis of the time linewindow 41 corresponds to that of the parameter setting window 42 eachother, the graphic image of the time line window 41 and the graphicimage of the parameter setting window 42 are linked and scrolled in thedirection of left and right at the same time. In addition, regarding tothe up and down direction, the scroll button 42B placed at the rightside of the parameter setting window 42 is operated so as to scroll thegraphic image on the parameter setting window 42 in the direction of upand down.

Here, to actually set the parameters of the three-dimensional transform,a desired item is first clicked among from the items of parametersdisplayed at the left corner of the parameter setting window 42 tospecify the item that parameter is set next. Then, a point of whichparameter is changed is decided and the setting value is decided withviewing the content specified on the time line window 41. The positioncorresponding to the decided point and the setting value is clicked onthe parameter setting window 42 consisting the vertical axis being theparameter value and the horizontal axis being time. Thereby, theparameter value and the parameter changing point corresponding to theclicked position are registered automatically in the clip database CDB.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, in the case where the position in theX-axis direction is gradually moved from the editing point EP4 to theminus direction, the desired values are successively clicked so as toregister the values automatically. Similarly, in the case where theposition in the Y-axis direction is gradually moved from the editingpoint EP6 to the plus direction, the desired values are successivelyclicked so as to register the values automatically. Similarly, in thecase where the position in the Z-axis direction is gradually moved fromthe editing point EP2 to the plus direction, the desired values aresuccessively clicked so as to register the values automatically. Inaddition, the sections between the points specified by an operator areinterpolated successively and the values such that the video image iscontinuously moved are automatically set.

Further, in the case of performing the rotation processing such that thevideo image is slowly rotated in the minus direction with the X-axisbeing centered in the range from the editing point EP2 to the editingpoint EP5, and the slowly rotated in the opposite direction after theediting point EP5 by turn, desired values are clicked at the editingpoint EP5 and the editing point EP7 so as to register the valuesautomatically. In addition, also in this case, the section between thepoints specified by an operator are interpolated successively and thevalues such that the video image is continuously rotated areautomatically set. In connection, it can be arbitrarily decided bysetting that the section is interpolated linearly or interpolated with aspline curve. In this example, the rotation processing is set to beinterpolated with a spline curve, so that the values are set inaccordance with a spline curve between the points specified by theoperator.

In this way, if desired values are set to the parameters of the specialeffect on the parameter setting window 42, the values of parameters areregistered in the clip database CDB, and the special effect is appliedto the video data of the clip to be edited based on the registeredparameter values. In addition, in the parameter setting window 35, asshown in FIG. 11, the values of the set parameters are displayedcorresponding to the editing points on a graph having the horizontalaxis being time and the vertical axis being parameter values. Thereby,an operator looks the display and can visually understand at a glancethe values, the parameters, and the timings which have been set.

(4-3) GUI when the Edit Module is Started up

Next, in this paragraph, the GUI when the edit module EM is started upis explained. In the editing system 1, the graphic display shown in FIG.12 is displayed as a GUI of the edit module EM on the display 2B of thework station 2, when the edit module EM is started up.

As shown in FIG. 12, when roughly divided, the GUI of the edit module EMis composed of a menu window 30, a clip tree window 31, an effectselection window 50, a library window 33, a time line window 51, aparameter setting window 52, a preview screen display window 36, adevice control window 37, an edit content display window 38, and acontrol command window 39.

Note that among the windows displayed on the GUI of the edit module EM,the menu window 30, the clip tree window 31, the preview screen displaywindow 36, the device control window 37, and the control command window39 are same as that of the composite module CM described above, so thatthe explanation is omitted here.

First, the effect selection window 50 is an area for selecting thetransition effect used in changing the video data of clip specified asan object to be edited, and the command buttons of various transitioneffects are displayed thereon. The command buttons to be displayed are awipe button for specifying the wipe effect which changes an image bywiping the image being displayed at present with a new image, a slidebutton for specifying the slide effect which changes into a new image bysliding an old image like the Kamishibai (telling a story with picturecards), a split button for specifying the split effect which changesinto a new image by splitting an old image to be slid, a squeeze buttonfor specifying the squeeze Reprocessing which changes an image byspreading a new image on an old image, and a page turn button forspecifying the page turn processing which changes an image by paging anold image, and so on.

In the effect selection window 50, a scroll button 50A of the left andright direction is displayed at the bottom position of the area, so asto scroll the displayed command button in the right and left direction.Similarly, a scroll button 50B of the up and down direction is displayedat the right side position of the effect selection window 50, so as toscroll the displayed command button in the up and down direction.

In the effect selection window 50, to select a desired transitioneffect, the editing point on which the transition effect is performed isdesignated on the time line window 51, and then the command buttoncorresponding to the desired transition effect is clicked so as toautomatically specify the transition effect.

The library window 33 is an area for displaying the list of the materialclips or the resultant clips registered in the clip database CDB. On thelibrary window 33, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, although only atitle bar is displayed usually, the title bar is clicked to open awindow, so that the library window 33 is entirely displayed as shown inFIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 12, on the library window 33, clips are displayed witha card graphic display 33A. At this time, the card graphic display 33Ais composed of a still picture display part 33B, an attribute displaypart 33C, and a clip name display part 33D. The still picture of thein-point or the out-point of the clip is displayed on the still picturedisplay part 33B. Thereby, an operator can understand easily that whichof video data is the clip produced from by viewing the screen displayedon the still picture display part 33B.

The character of “FC” or “MC” showing the attribute of the clip isdisplayed on the attribute display part 33C. In this case, “FC” showsthat the clip is the resultant clip produced as a result of the edit,and “MC” shows that the clip is the material clip only taken out fromthe source video data. In this way, the information showing theattribute is displayed so that the operator can easily understandwhether the clip is the resultant clip or the material clip by viewingthe display. The clip name added by the operator is displayed on theclip name display part 33D. Note that the clip name has been registeredin the blip database CDB as a clip management data described later.

Thus, in the library window 33, the clip which has been registeredalready in the clip database CDB is displayed as a list, so that theclip to be edited is easily selected among from the clips alreadyregistered.

In addition, a scroll button 33E is displayed at the right side positionof the library window 33. The scroll button 33E is operated to scrollthe library window 33 in the up and down direction, so that the allclips registered in the library window 33 can be displayed. Therefore,the clip which is not shown at present can be also selected.

The time line window 51 is an area for placing the clips to be edited onthe time axis to designate the content of edit. On the time line window51 displayed at the edit module EM, the content relating to the editprocessing is displayed. The time line window 51 is divided into areas.When roughly divided successively from the top, the areas are a timecode display area (Time Code), an editing point display area (EditPoint), a preview extent display area (Preview), a video and effectspecifying area (V), and an audio specifying area (A).

The time code display area is an area for displaying the time code atthe editing point. The time code is a time code on the time line of theresultant clip produced based on the edit content designated on the timeline window 51.

The editing point display area is an area for indicating points set asan editing point by triangle marks. For example, when the editprocessing shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 9 is specified, the editing pointsEP1 to EP5 are indicated by using triangle marks. However, in FIG. 12,since the area and the vicinity on which the transition effect isapplied are only displayed on the time line window 51, the editingpoints EP2 to EP4 are only displayed. In addition, to display theediting point EP1 and the editing point EP5, as described later, thescroll button of the left and right direction is operated on theparameter setting window 52, so that the graphic image in the time linesetting window 52 is scrolled in the left and right direction to displaythe editing point EP1 or the editing point EP5.

The preview extent display area is an area for indicating the extent ofthe video data displayed on the preview screen display window 36 when apreview button and a view button which are described above are operated.In this example, since the extent from the section between the editingpoint EP1 and the editing point EP2 to the section between the editingpoint EP4 and the editing point EP5 are set as the display extent, a barshowing the extent is displayed.

The video and effect specifying area is divided into areas. They are afirst and second video area (Video-L1, Video-L2) for specifying the clipto be edit, and an effect area (Effect) for specifying the transitionapplied to the clip to be edited.

To specify the clip to be edited in the first or second video area, adesired clip is clicked on the library window 33 or the clip tree window31 to display the cell showing the clip. The cell is placed in the firstor second video area, so that the clip is set to the first or secondvideo area and registered as a clip to be edited. For example, if theresultant clip FC-008 is clicked and placed at the first video area, andthe resultant clip FC-009 is clicked and placed at the second videoarea, as shown in FIG. 12, the resultant clips FC-008 and FC-009 are setto the first and second video area respectively. In addition, the videodata set to the first video area becomes an old video data, and thevideo data set the second area becomes the video data newly changed.

Similarly, to specify the transition effect in the effect area, adesired effect button is clicked on the effect selection window 50 todisplay the cell showing the effect. The cell is placed in the effectarea, so that the effect is set to the effect applied to the clip to beedited. For example, if the wipe button is clicked on the effectselection window 50, the cell showing the wipe is displayed. The cell isplaced at the effect area, as shown in FIG. 12, the wipe processing isset as a processing of changing the resultant clip FC-008 and theresultant clip FC-009.

The audio specifying area is an area for specifying the audio dataoutput with the video data. In this case, it is divided into the firstand second audio areas (Audio-1ch, Audio-2ch). In addition, to set theaudio data in the first and second audio areas, similarly to the settingmethod in the video area, a desired clip is clicked and placed in thefirst or second audio area, the audio data of the clip is set to theaudio data to be output. In connection, the audio data set in the firstaudio area is output to the first channel of the stereo broadcasting,and the audio data set in the second audio area is output to the secondchannel of the stereo broadcasting.

In addition, the resultant clip which has been placed in the first orsecond video area and already displayed is selected by double-clicking,the module which has produced the clip, that is the composite module CM,the special effect module SM, or the edit module EM is started up andthe content of the edit which has been applied to the clip is displayedon the time line window of the GUI of the corresponding module.

The parameter setting window 52 is an area for setting parametersrelating to the transition effect specified by the operator. In theparameter setting window 52, when the effect button of the effectselection window 50 is clicked, the parameter setting screen relating tothe clicked effect is displayed. For example, if the wipe button isclicked on the effect selection window 50 to specify the wipeprocessing, as shown in FIG. 12, the parameter setting screen relatingto the wipe processing is displayed on the parameter setting window 52.

Parameters in the wipe processing, as shown in FIG. 12, are the aspectratio (Aspect) indicating the ratio of length and breadth of wipepattern, the angle (Angle) prescribing the angle of wipe pattern, thespeed (Speed) prescribing the speed of wipe pattern in changing theimage, the horizontal modulation (H Mod) prescribing the wave given inthe horizontal direction of the wipe pattern edge, and the verticalmodulation (H Mod) prescribing the wave given in the vertical directionof the wipe pattern edge. These parameter values can be set to arbitraryvalues between the maximum setting extent MAX to the minimum settingextent MIN based on the default value (=“0”). However, as the parameterof the speed, the default value is set to the minimum setting extentMIN, and the changeable extent are from the default value to the maximumsetting value MAX.

The horizontal axis (that is, time axis) of the parameter setting window52 corresponds to that of the time line window 51 each other, and thechange point of the parameter can be decided, with viewing the contentof the edit processing specified on the time line window 51. Inconnection, with regard to the vertical direction, that is the left andright direction, the scroll button 52A positioned at the bottom of theparameter setting window 52 is operated so as to scroll the graphicimage in the parameter setting window 52 in the direction of left andright. At this time, the horizontal axis of the time line window 51corresponds to that of the parameter setting window 52 each other, thegraphic image of the time line window 51 and the graphic image of theparameter setting window 52 are linked and scrolled in the left andright direction at the same time. In addition, with regard to the up anddown direction, the scroll button 52B positioned at the right side ofthe parameter setting window 52 is operated so as to scroll the graphicimage in the parameter setting window 52 in the direction of up anddown.

Here, to actually set the parameters of the wipe processing, a desireditem is first clicked among from the items of parameter displayed at theleft corner of the parameter setting window 52 to specify the item ofwhich parameter is set next. Then, a point of where the parameter ischanged is decided with viewing the content specified at the time linewindow 51, and the setting value is decided. The position correspondingto the decided point and the setting value is clicked on the parametersetting window 52 consisting the vertical axis being parameter valuesand the horizontal axis being time. Thereby, the parameter value and theparameter changing point corresponding to the clicked position areregistered automatically in the clip database CDB.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, in the case where the aspect ratio ofthe wipe pattern is gradually increased from the editing point EP2 tothe editing point EP4, the desired values are successively clicked so asto register the values automatically. In addition, the section betweenthe points specified by an operator are interpolated successively andthe values such that the aspect ratio of the wipe pattern iscontinuously changed are automatically registered.

Similarly, it is desired that the angle of the wipe pattern is graduallyincreased from the editing point EP2 to the editing point EP3, and thewipe pattern is gradually inclined from the editing point EP3 to theediting point EP4, the desired values are successively clicked so as toregister the values automatically. Also in this case, the sectionbetween points specified by the operator is interpolated, and the valuessuch that the wipe pattern changes continuously is registeredautomatically. In connection, it can be arbitrarily decided whether thesection is interpolated linearly or interpolated with a spline curve. Inthis example, the angle is set to be interpolated with a spline curve,so that the section specified by the operator is set to the value whichis along the spline curve.

Further, it is desired that the speed of the wipe pattern is fixed fromthe editing point EP2 to the editing point EP3, and graduallyaccelerated from the editing point EP3 to the editing point EP4, desiredvalues are successively clicked so as to register the valuesautomatically. In addition, also in this case, the section betweenpoints specified by an operator is interpolated, and the value such thatthe speed of the wipe pattern is continuously changed is registeredautomatically.

Thus, in the parameter setting window 52, when a desired value is set tothe parameter of the transition effect, the value of parameter isregistered in the clip database CDM, and the transition effect isapplied to the video data of the clip to be edited based on theregistered value of parameter. In addition, in the parameter settingwindow 52, as shown in FIG. 12, the set value of parameters aredisplayed corresponding to the editing points on a graph having thehorizontal axis being time and the vertical axis being parameter values.Thereby, an operator looks the display and can visually understand at aglance the parameters, the values, and the timings which have been set.

The edit content display window 38 is an area for displaying with thegraphic image the content of edit specified on the time line window 51.As described above in the time line window 51, in the case of specifyingthe edit processing such that two clips FC-008, FC-009 are switched bythe wipe processing, the graphic image such that the graphic imageshowing the wipe processing is sandwiched between bar graphic imagesshowing the respective clips unevenly is displayed. Thereby, an operatorlooks this display so as to easily understand which edit content isindicated as a whole. Specially, as shown in FIG. 12, when only a partof area is displayed on the time line window 51, although the content ofentire processing is not easy to understand, looking at the edit contentdisplay window 38, the content of entire processing can be easilyunderstood.

(5) Method for Managing the Clip Management Data in the Clip Database

In the editing system 1 according to this invention, the material clipsand resultant clips produced by editing the material clips are allregistered in the clip database CDB. The data registered in the clipdatabase CDB, when roughly divided, are the clip video data of thematerial clip and the resultant clip, and the clip management data formanaging the clip video data. In this paragraph, the method for managingthe clip management data is explained.

FIG. 13 shows a database for the clip management data generated in theclip data base CDB (mainly, RAM 21B), when the edit processing shown inFIGS. 7, 8, and 9 are instructed. The database for managing the clipmanagement data, as shown in FIG. 13, is composed of clip ID code, clipname, attribute, pointer to image data, duration, parent link ID code,child link ID code, enable/disable flag, and work data, when roughlydivided.

The clip ID code is an identification number of the serial numberautomatically added to the clip in the order of being registered as aclip. Therefore, the registered clip can be identified on the basis ofthe clip ID code.

The attribute of clip is data for identifying whether the clip is only amaterial clip or the clip is a resultant clip produced by editing amaterial clip. If it is a material clip, the code “M” is registered asthe attribute of the clip. If it is a resultant clip, the code “F” isregistered.

The clip name is a name for identifying the clip, which is added to theclip. In this example, when the clip ID code is “001” and the attributeof the clip is “M”, the name “MC-001” is automatically added as a clipname. In addition, an arbitrary name can be added as a clip nameadapting the user's taste. In connection, the clip name displayed at theclip name display part 33D of the library window 33 is this clip name.

The pointer to the image data is composed of eight-byte data, and is apointer showing the head address of the clip video data recorded in thevideo disk recorder 5. In the editing system 1, the clip video data hasbeen stored in the video disk recorder 5 having a plurality of harddisk, and the pointer to the image data indicates the logical address ofthe hard disk array.

The duration is a time code showing the reproduction period of the clipvideo data of the clip. That is, it is a time code showing the time fromthe start to the end of the clip video data.

The parent link ID code is the clip ID code of the clip which is linkedthereto as an upper clip. For example, since the material clip MC-001 ofwhich the clip ID code is “001” is linked to the resultant clip FC-008of which the clip ID code is “008”, the clip ID code “008” of theresultant clip FC-008 has been registered as a parent link ID code.

In addition, for the clip which does not have the upper clip because itis the uppermost clip, “000” is registered as a parent link ID code. Forexample, the resultant clip FC-010 does not have the upper clip, thereby“000” has been registered as a parent link ID code. In this way, if theparent link ID code is “000”, it can be easily understand that it is theuppermost clip.

The child link ID code is the clip ID code of the clip which is linkedthereto as a lower clip. For example, the material clips MC-001,MVC-002, and MC-003 are linked as a lower clip to the resultant clipFC-008 of which the clip ID code is “008”. At this time, the materialclip MC-001 is specified as the third layer L3, the material clip MC-002is specified as the second layer L2, and the material clip MC-003 isspecified as the first layer L1. Therefore, “003” has been registered asthe clip ID code of the clip which is the lower clip of the resultantclip FC-008 and is specified to the first layer L1, “002” has beenregistered as the clip ID code of the clip which is the lower clip ofthe resultant clip FC-008 and is specified to the second layer L2, and“001” has been registered as the clip ID code of the clip which is thelower clip of the resultant clip FC-008 and is specified to the thirdlayer L3. In addition, the lower clip being linked to the lowerhierarchy is managed corresponding to the layer, so as to easilyunderstand that which of lower clips is specified to which of layers.

In addition, in the clip having no lower clip, no data is registered asa child link ID code. For example, the material clip MC-001 is only amaterial clip and has no lower clip, thereby the child link ID code is ablank.

The enable/disable flag is a flag showing whether the clip is enable ordisable. When the clip is enable, the code “E” is registered, and whenthe clip is disable, the code “D” is registered. In connection, if thecontent of edit specified has been executed and the clip video data hasbeen produced as a result of edit, the enable flag is registered. If thecontent of edit has not been executed and the clip video data has notbeen produced, or if although the content of edit has been onceexecuted, thereafter the content of edit and the clip being material ischanged so that the clip video data does not correspond to the actualedit content, the disable flag is registered. In addition, theenable/disable flag is provided as a clip management data, so that whenthe database for clip management data is referred, it can be easilyunderstood whether the clip is enable or disable.

The work data is data showing the edit content specified to the clip.Therefore, some work data has been registered in the resultant clipsFC-008, FC-009, and FC-010 produced by edit. However, no work data hasbeen registered in the material clip MC-001 to the material clip MC-007which has not been produced by edit.

As shown in FIG. 13, when roughly divided, the work data is classifiedto a module ID code, an editing point data, and an image processingdata. The module ID code is an identification number indicating themodule used in the edit work for producing the resultant clip. In thiscase, the code “C” is registered when the composite module CM is used,the code “S” is registered when the special effect module SM is used,and the code “E” is registered when the edit module EM is used.

Also, the editing point data is data composed of all editing pointsspecified to the resultant clip and time codes corresponding to theediting points.

Further, the image processing data is composed of the composite data,the special effect data, and the edit data. The composite data is databeing parameter values specified in the composite processing, thespecial effect data is data being parameter values specified in thespecial effect processing, and the edit data is data being parametervalues specified in the edit processing.

In addition, when the content of edit processing is modified, thecontents of these clip management data are rewritten at any time basedon the new edit content. However, the old clip management data is noteliminated, and another clip ID code and the clip name are added to bestored as a backup data. For example, when the content of the specialeffect processing for the resultant clip FC-009 is modified, as shown inFIG. 14, the clip management data before modification is stored as abackup data.

More specifically, when the new special effect processing is instructedto the resultant clip FC-009, the editing point data after modificationand the special effect data after modification are produced based on thecontent of the new special effect processing, and they are registered asa work data in the place of the clip before modification (i.e., theplace that the clip ID data is “009”) respectively. On the other hand,to the editing point data before modification and the special effectdata before modification which have been registered as a work databefore the new special effect processing is instructed, the new clip IDcode “009BK1” and the clip name “FC-009BK1” are assigned. Then, on thebasis of these identification information, they are registered in theother area of the database as a clip management data for backup.However, in the clip management data registered as backup, theenable/disable flag is changed into the code “D” indicating the disable.

In this way, the clip management data before modification is remained asa backup, so that even if you do not like the resultant clip FC-009after modification, you can easily return to the resultant clipFC-009BK1 before modification based on the clip management data beforemodification which is remained as a backup.

Here, the editing point data, composite data, special effect data, andedit data which are registered as work data described above areconcretely explained hereinafter. First, referring to FIGS. 15 to 17,the editing point data is explained.

When the composite processing shown in FIG. 7 is instructed to theresultant clip FC-008, the editing point shown in FIG. 15 is registered.As shown in FIG. 15, the editing point data is data for specifying thatwhich part of the lower clips is used to the clip video data of theupper clip, and is composed of the time code of in-point indicating thestarting position of the lower clip and the time code of out-pointindicating the end position.

As shown in FIG. 7, the time code of the in-point of the material clipMC-003 specified as the first layer L1 is “00:00:31:02” on the time linet3, and the position of the in-point corresponds to the time code“00:00:00:00” on the time line t8 of the resultant clip FC-008.Therefore, in the editing point data, as shown in FIG. 15, the time code“00:00:00:00” of the resultant clip FC-008 and the time code“00:00:31:02” of the in-point of the material clip MC-003 arecorrespondingly Registered at the editing point EP1. Further, as shownin FIG. 7, the time code of the out-point of the material clip MC-003specified as the first layer L1 is “00:05:18:02” on the time line t3,and the position of the out-point corresponds to the time code“00:04:47:00” on the time line t8 of the resultant clip FC-008.Therefore, in the editing point data, as shown in FIG. 15, the time code“00:04:47:00” of the resultant clip FC-008 and the time code“00:05:18:02” of the out-point of the material clip MC-003 arecorrespondingly registered at the editing point EP8. The editing pointof the material clip MC-003 specified as the first layer L1 is decidedby the time codes of the in-point and the out-point.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 15, the time codes “00:00:51:00” and“00:03:04:20” of the in-point and out-point of the material clip FC-002specified as the second layer L2 are also registered correspondingly tothe time codes of the resultant clip FC-008. Also, the time codes“00:01:40:03” and “00:02:45:48” of the in-point and out-point of thematerial clip FC-001 specified as the third layer L3 are also registeredcorrespondingly to the time codes of the resultant clip FC-008.

When the special effect processing shown in FIG. 8 is instructed to theresultant clip FC-009, the editing point data shown in FIG. 16 isregistered. As shown in FIG. 16, also in the case of special effectprocessing, in the editing point data, the time code of the lower clipand the time code of the upper clip are registered correspondingly. Morespecially, as shown in FIG. 16, the time codes of the in-point and theout-point of the material clip MC-004 “00:10:12:00” and “00:12:18:00”are registered with corresponding to the time code of the resultant clipFC-009.

Further, when the edit processing shown in FIG. 9 is instructed to theresultant clip FC-010, the editing point data shown in FIG. 17 isregistered. As shown in FIG. 17, also in the case of edit processing, inthe editing point data, the time code of the lower clip and the timecode of the upper clip are registered correspondingly. More specially,as shown in FIG. 17, the time codes of the in-point and the out-point ofthe resultant clip FC-008 specified as the first layer L1 “00:01:01:20”and “00:04:43:00” are registered with corresponding to the time code ofthe resultant clip FC-010, and as shown in FIG. 17, the time codes ofthe in-point and the out-point of the resultant clip FC-009 specified asthe second layer L2 “00:00:00:50” and “00:02:06:00” are registered withcorresponding to the time code of the resultant clip FC-010.

Next, referring to FIG. 18, the composite data is explained. Thecomposite data is data for showing the composite ratio (gain) when thevideo data of the clip specified to each layer is composed, and takes avalue from “0” to “100”. In addition, if the composite data is “0”, thismeans that the video data to be composed is composed with the ratio of0%, and the video data at a lower layer is completely viewedtransparently in this case. If the value of the composite data is “50”,this means that the video data to be composed is composed with the ratioof 50%, and a half of the video data of the lower layer is viewedtransparently. If the value of the composite data is “100”, this meansthat the video data to be composed is composed with the ratio of 100%,and the video data of the lower layer is completely hidden and notviewed.

Here, the concrete example is shown in FIG. 18. FIG. 18 shows a databaseof the composite data produced when the composite data (gain) isspecified by using the parameter setting window 35 shown in FIG. 10.

When the gain “100” is specified to the material clip MC-003 specifiedto the first layer L1 at a position of the editing point EP1 and aposition of the editing point EP8, as shown in FIG. 18, the gain “100”is registered in the column corresponding to the editing point EP1 andthe editing point EP8. Further, since the section between the editingpoint EP1 and the editing point EP8 is linearly interpolated based onthe value using the editing points EP1 and EP8 as key points, the gain“100” is automatically registered (in the figure, “- - ” shows that theinterpolated value is registered).

Also, when the gain “59” is specified to the material clip MC-002specified to the second layer L2 at a position of the editing point EP2,the gain “100” is specified at a position of the editing point EP3, andthe gain “0” is specified at a position of the editing point EP6, asshown in FIG. 18, the gain “59”, “100”, and “0” are respectively andsuccessively registered in the columns corresponding to the editingpoints EP2, EP3, and EP6. Also in this case, since the section betweenthe editing point EP2 and the editing point EP3 and the section betweenthe editing point EP3 and the editing point EP6 are linearlyinterpolated based on the values using the editing points EP2, EP3, andEP6 as key points, the gain values which continue linearly areautomatically registered.

Also, when the gain “100” is specified to the material clip MC-001specified to the third layer L3 at a position of the editing point EP4,the gain “67” is specified at a position of the editing point EP5 andthe gain “51” is specified at a position of the editing point EP7, asshown in FIG. 18, the gain “100”, “67”, and “51” are respectively andsuccessively registered in the columns corresponding to the editingpoints EP4, EP5, and EP7. Also in this case, since the section betweenthe editing point EP4 and the editing point EP5 and the section betweenthe editing point EP5 and the editing point EP7 are linearlyinterpolated based on the values using the editing points EP4, EP5, andEP7 as key points, the gain values which continue linearly areautomatically registered.

Thus, the composite data described above are registered to execute theedit processing, so that the values of the composite data can be changedat a timing of each editing point at any time. As a result, the videoimage such that the video image of the material clip MC-002 specified tothe layer L2 is gradually appeared on the video image of the materialclip MC-003 specified as the layer L1 from the point in time of theediting point EP2, and then after the editing point EP3, the video imageof the material clip MC-002 becomes faint gradually, and at the point intime of the editing point EP4, the video image of the material clipMC-001 specified as the layer L3 is appeared, thereafter, it becomesfaint gradually, can be obtained.

Next, referring to FIG. 19, the special effect data is explained. Thespecial effect data is basically composed of an effect ID data showingthe type of the special effect processing applied to the clip to beedited, each parameter value of the specified special effect processing,and period that the special effect processing is performed.

Here, the concrete example of the special effect processing shows inFIG. 19. FIG. 19 shows a database of the special effect data relating tothe three-dimensional transform shown in FIG. 8 and a database of thespecial effect data produced when the parameter is set by using theparameter setting window 42 shown in FIG. 11.

In FIG. 19, “1025” registered as the effect ID data is an effectidentification number assigned to the three-dimensional transform, andit can be known that the three-dimensional transform is specified as aspecial effect processing by the effect identification number “1025”.Also, “Loc X”, “Loc Y”, and “Loc Z” represent the position (X, Y, Z)being parameters of the three-dimensional transform. “Rot X”, “Rot Y”,and “Rot Z” represent the rotation direction (X, Y, Z) being parametersof the three-dimensional transform. “Asp” represents the aspect ratiobeing parameter of the three-dimensional transform. “Skew” representsthe skew being parameter of the three-dimensional transform. “Pers”represents the perspective value being parameter of thethree-dimensional transform. As shown in FIG. 19, these parameters arespecified from the editing point EP2 to the editing point EP7. Thereby,it can be easily understood that the editing point EP2 is the startingpoint and the editing point EP7 is the end point, as to the period wherethe three-dimensional transform is specified. In addition, the concretevalues of the starting point and the end point of the three-dimensionaltransform, that are the time codes, are easily obtained by referring tothe editing point data of FIG. 16 explained above.

Here, in the parameter setting window 42 shown in FIG. 11, when thecoordinate values “0”, “0”, “−1.6”, and “−1.6” are respectivelyspecified to the parameter “Loc X” at the editing points EP2, EP4, EP6,and EP7, as shown in FIG. 19, the coordinate values “0”, “0”, “−1.6”,and “−1.6” are registered in the columns corresponding to the editingpoints EP2, EP4, EP6, and EP7. In this case, the sections between theediting point EP2 and the editing point EP4, between the editing pointEP4 and the editing point EP6, between the editing point EP6 and theediting point EP7, are linearly interpolated based on the values usingthe editing points EP2, EP4, EP6, and EP7 as key points, and thecoordinate values which continue linearly are automatically registered.

Similarly, when the coordinate values “0”, “0”, and “+2” arerespectively specified to the parameter “Loc Y” at the editing pointsEP2, EP6, and EP7, the corresponding coordinate values are registered inthe columns corresponding to the editing points EP2, EP6, and EP7. Whenthe coordinate values “0”, “+2.2”, and “+2.2” are respectively specifiedto the parameter “Loc Z” at the editing points EP2, EP6, and EP7, thecorresponding coordinate values are registered in the columnscorresponding to the editing points EP2, EP6, and EP7.

Further, when the rotation angles “0”, “−180”, and “−102” arerespectively specified to the parameter “Rot X” at the editing pointsEP2, EP5, and EP7, the corresponding rotation angles are registered inthe columns corresponding to the editing points EP2, EP5, and EP7. Inaddition, since the interpolation with a spline curve is set in thiscase, the values which continue along a spline curve are automaticallyregistered between the editing point EP2 and the editing point EP5 andbetween the editing point EP5 and the editing point EP7. Moreover,regarding to the parameters “Rot Y”, “Rot Z”, “Asp”, “Skew”, and “Pers”which are not specified, “0” is registered automatically as a defaultvalue.

In this way, when the parameters relating to the three-dimensionaltransform are registered to execute the edit work, the values ofparameters are changed at a timing of each editing point, and at thesame time, changed into the interpolated values between respectiveediting points. As a result, the video image which moves in thethree-dimensional space with rotating using the X-axis as a shaft can beobtained.

Next, referring to FIG. 20, the edit data is explained. The edit data isbasically composed of an effect ID data showing the type of thetransition effect applied to the clip to be edited, each parameter valueof the specified transition effect, and period that the transitioneffect is performed.

Here, the concrete example of the edit data shows in FIG. 20. FIG. 20shows a database of the edit data produced when the wipe processingshown in FIG. 9 is specified as a transition effect and when theparameter is set by using the parameter setting window 52 shown in FIG.12.

In FIG. 20, “0001” registered as the effect ID data is an effectidentification number assigned to the wipe processing that the image ofthe first video data is changed into the image of the second video datain the direction from the left side to the right side of the screen, andthe effect identification number “0001” means that the wipe processingis specified as a transition effect.

In addition, when the effect identification number “1300” is registeredas an effect ID data, it means that the wipe processing is specifiedsuch that the image of the first video data is changed into the image ofthe second video data in the direction from the both sides of the screento the center. When the effect identification number “2123” isregistered as an effect ID data, it means that the page turn processingis specified such that the image of the first video data is changed asif a page is turned.

Further, “Aspect” is a parameter indicating the ratio of length andbreadth of wipe pattern, “Angle” is a parameter indicating the angle ofwipe pattern, “Speed” is a parameter indicating the speed to change, and“H-Mod” and “V-Mod” are parameters indicating the wave of the wipepattern respectively. As shown in FIG. 20, these parameters arespecified from the editing point EP2 to the editing point EP4, thereby,it can be easily obtained that the editing point EP2 is the start pointand the editing point EP4 is the end point as a period that the wipeprocessing is specified. In addition, the concrete values of the startpoint and the end point of the wipe processing, that are time codes, canbe easily obtained by referring to the editing point data of FIG. 17explained above.

Here, when the values “0” and “+25” are respectively specified to theparameter “Aspect” at the editing points EP2 and EP4, as shown in FIG.20, the corresponding values are registered in the columns correspondingto the editing points EP2 and EP4. In this case, the section between theediting point EP2 and the editing point EP4 is linearly interpolatedbased on the values using the editing point EP2 and the editing pointEP4 as key points, and the values which continue linearly are registeredautomatically.

Also, when the values “20”, “20”, and “100” are respectively specifiedto the parameter “Speed” at the editing points EP2, EP3, and EP4, thecorresponding values are registered in the columns corresponding to theediting points EP2, EP3, and EP4. Also in this case, the section betweenthe editing point EP2 and the editing point EP3 and the section betweenthe editing point EP3 and the editing point EP4 are linearlyinterpolated based on the values using the editing points EP2, EP3, andEP4 as key points, and the values which continue linearly are registeredautomatically.

While, when the values “0”, “+180”, and “−180” are respectivelyspecified to the parameter “Angle” at the editing points EP2, EP3, andEP4, the corresponding values are registered in the columnscorresponding to the editing points EP2, EP3, and EP4. Since theinterpolation with a spline curve is set in this case, the values whichcontinue along a spline curve are automatically registered between theediting point EP2 and the editing point EP3 and between the editingpoint EP3 and the editing point EP4. Moreover, regarding to theparameters “H-Mod” and “V-Mod” which are not specified, “0” isregistered automatically as a default value.

In this way, when the parameters relating to the wipe processing areregistered to execute the edition work, the values of parameters arechanged at a timing of the editing point, and at the same time, changedinto the interpolated values between respective editing points. As aresult, the video image of the transition effect that the shape, angle,and speed of wipe pattern are changed successively can be obtained.

(6) Procedures in the Editing System

Next, in this paragraph, the operation procedure of each processing inthe editing system 1 will be explained using flowcharts. Note that thecontents of the operation procedures explained hereinafter are allperformed by the operation of a CPU 21 based on the application program.

When the editing system 1 is started up with a predetermined method, theCPU 21 initially starts up the control module CNTM at step SP1 shown inFIG. 21, and displays a top menu on the display 2B of the work station 2at next step SP2.

At next step SP3, the CPU 21 determines whether or not any item of menuis selected on the top menu. As a result, when the item of menu isselected, the item of menu is determined in following steps SP4 to SP7.

As the result of the determination of step SP4, when the start-upcommand of the edit module EM is selected, the CPU 21 proceeds to stepSP8 to perform the start-up processing of the edit module EM. As theresult of the determination of step SP5, when the start-up command ofthe composite module CM is selected, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP9 toperform the startup processing of the composite module CM. As the resultof the determination of step SP6, when the start-up command of thespecial-effect module SM is selected, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP10to perform the start-up processing of the special-effect module SM.

While, as the result of the determination of step SP7, when the commandfor opening a file of the resultant clip already registered is selected,the CPU 21 identifies the module used in the selected resultant clip atthe next step SP11 and starts up the identified module (that is, theedit module EM, the composite module CM, or the special effect moduleSM) at next step SP12. In addition, at step SP11, the CPU 21 refers thework data registered in the clip database CDB, so as to identify themodule of the resultant clip selected.

Here, FIG. 22 concretely shows the start-up processing of the editmodule EM at step SP8. When the edit module EM is instructed to startup, the CPU 21 first displays the GUI of the edit module EM on thedisplay 2B of the work station 2 at step SP21 entering from step SP20.At next step SP22, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the start-up ofthe edit module EM is instructed through the above step SP12. When thestart-up of the edit module EM is instructed through step SP12, the CPU21 proceeds to step SP23 to read out the content of edit processing ofthe specified resultant clip based on the clip management dataregistered in the clip database CDB, and displays the content of theedit processing on the time line window 51 of the GUI for edit moduledescribed above.

On the other hand, as the result of the determination of step SP22, whenthe start-up through step SP12 is not instructed but the newly start-upis instructed, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP24 to prepare theregistration of the clip management data for a newly edit processing.More specifically, the area for registering the clip management data issecured on the clip database CDB in order to provide the content of theedit processing newly instructed. After the processing of step SP23 orstep SP24 is performed, the CPU 21 proceeds to step 25 to perform theactual edit processing.

Further, FIG. 23 concretely shows the start-up processing of thecomposite module CM at step SP9. When the composite module CM isinstructed to start up, the CPU 21 first displays the GUI of thecomposite module CM on the display 2B of the work station 2 at step SP31entering from step SP30. At next step SP32, the CPU 21 determineswhether or not the start-up of the composite module CM is instructedthrough the above step SP12. When the start-up of the composite moduleCM is instructed through step SP12, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP33 toread out the content of composite processing of the specified resultantclip based on the clip management data registered in the clip databaseCDB, and displays the content of the composite processing on the timeline window 34 of the GUI for composite module described above.

On the other hand, as the result of the determination of step SP32, whenthe start-up through step SP12 is not instructed but the newly start-upis instructed, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP34 to prepare theregistration of the clip management data for a newly compositeprocessing. More specifically, the area for registering the clipmanagement data is secured on the clip database CDB in order to providethe content of the composite processing newly instructed. After theprocessing of step SP33 or step SP34 is performed, the CPU 21 proceedsto step 35 to perform the actual composite processing.

Further, FIG. 24 concretely shows the start-up processing of the specialeffect module SM at step SP10. When the special effect module SM isinstructed to start up, the CPU 21 first displays the GUI of the specialeffect module SM on the display 2B of the work station 2 at step SP41entering from step SP40. At next step SP42, the CPU 21 determineswhether or not the start-up of the special effect module SM isinstructed through the above step SP12. When the start-up of the specialeffect module SM is instructed through step SP12, the CPU 21 proceeds tostep SP43 to read out the content of special-effect processing of thespecified resultant clip based on the clip management data registered inthe clip database CDB, and displays the content of the special effectprocessing on the time line window 41 of the GUI for special effectmodule described above.

On the other hand, as the result of the determination of step SP42, whenthe start-up through step SP12 is not instructed but the newly start-upis instructed, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP44 to prepare theregistration of the clip management data for a newly special effectprocessing. More specifically, the area for registering the clipmanagement data is secured on the clip database CDB in order to providethe content of the special effect processing newly instructed. After theprocessing of step SP43 or step SP44 is performed, the CPU 21 proceedsto step 45 to perform the actual special effect processing.

Here, the details of the edit processing at the step SP25 of FIG. 22 areillustrated in FIG. 25. Note that the figure is omitted, but thecomposite processing at step SP35 of FIG. 23 and the special effectprocessing at step SP45 of FIG. 24 are mostly same as that of the editprocessing of FIG. 25. The difference is only that the content of theedit processing is changed into that of the composite processing or thespecial effect processing.

As shown in FIG. 25, the CPU 21 first determines whether or not an inputfor instructing the edit processing is supplied at step SP51 enteringfrom step SP50 (e.g., determines whether or not the operation using thetime line window 51 or the operation using the parameter setting window52 exists). As a result, when the input is supplied, the CPU 21 proceedsto step S52, so that edit data corresponding to the input is produced tosuitably write it in the clip database CDB as a clip management data,and the enable/disable flag of the resultant clip is set to disable. Ifthe input is to read out the resultant clip already registered andmodify the content thereof, the CPU 21 dose not only overwrite, but alsoassigns another code to the clip management data before modification andmaintains it in the other area. Thus, the clip management data beforemodification can be read later.

When the processing of step SP52 is completed, the CPU 21 proceeds tonext step SP53. At step SP53, the CPU 21 refers the parent link ID codeof the clip management data, so as to determine whether or not the upperclip of the clip management data exists. As a result, when there is noupper clip, the CPU 21 returns to step SP51. When the upper clip exists,the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP54 to set the enable/disable flag of theclip management data for managing the upper clip to disable, thereafter,returns to step SP51. In addition, the case of proceeding to the stepSP54 is mostly when the resultant clip already registered is modified.Further, the upper clip includes not only the upper clip having theresultant clip produced at step SP52 as a lower clip, but also includesthe resultant clip having this upper clip further as a lower clip and atleast all resultant clips using this resultant clip as a material(hereinafter, referred to as associated clips).

For example, it is assumed that the relation between each material clipand the resultant clip is as shown in FIG. 26. More specifically, aresultant clip FC-G is produced from material clips MC-G1 and MC-G2, anda resultant clip FC-E is produced from the resultant clip FC-G andmaterial clips MC-E1 and MC-E2 as materials. A resultant clip FC-C isproduced from the resultant clip FC-E and a material clip MC-C1 asmaterials.

Further, a resultant clip FC-F is produced from material clips MC-F1,MC-F2, and MC-F3 as materials, and a resultant clip FC-D is producedfrom the resultant clip FC-F and material clips MC-D1 and MC-D2 asmaterials. Furthermore, the resultant clip FC-B is produced from theresultant clips FC-D and FC-C and material clip MC-B1 as materials, anda resultant clip FC-A is produced from the resultant clip FC-B as amaterial.

When there is such relation between clips, as far as the modification isnot added after the clip video data of the respective resultant clipsare produced once, the enable/disable flag of the clip management datafor managing these clips is normally set to enable. However, the contentof the edit processing of the resultant clip FC-E is modified forexample, the enable/disable flag of the resultant clip FC-E is naturallyset to disable. The enable/disable flag are set to disable not only forthe resultant clip FC-E but also for the resultant clips FC-C and FC-Dwhich have the resultant clip FC-E as a lower clip, the resultant clipFC-B having the resultant clips FC-C and FC-D as lower clips, andmoreover, the resultant clip FC-A having the resultant clip FC-B as alower clip.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 25 is explained again. As the result of thedetermination of step SP51, in the case where the edit processing is notinputted specially, the CPU 21 proceeds to next step SP55. At step SP55,the CPU 21 determines whether or not the resultant clip displayed at thevideo area of the time line window 51 has been selected. When thedisplayed resultant clip has been selected, the CPU 21 starts up themodule which has produced the resultant clip (i.e., the composite moduleCM or the special effect module SM) at step SP56. When the displayedresultant clip is not selected, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP58. Notethat the details of step SP56 will be described later.

At step SP58, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the re-executioninstruction is input, and when it is input, proceeds to step SP59 toperform the re-execution processing. When the re-execution instructionis not input, the CPU 21 returns to the original flowchart through stepSP26. In addition, the re-execution described here means that the viewbutton or the all view button displayed on the GUI screen is clicked bythe mouse 2D and the instruction of the view or all view is input. Atthe time of the view or all view, the content of the specified editprocessing is actually executed to produce the video clip data of theresultant clip, so that such name is given.

Here, the concrete processing of the step SP56 described above (that is,the start-up processing of the module) is shown in FIG. 27. As shown inFIG. 27, when the displayed resultant clip is selected, the CPU 21 readsout the clip management data of the selected resultant clip at step SP61entering from step SP60. Next, at step SP62, the CPU 21 refers a moduleID code registered in the clip management data and starts up the modulecorresponding to the module ID code (that is, the composite module CM orthe special effect module SM) at step SP63, to display the content ofthe edit processing of the resultant clip on the time line window of theGUI.

Then, the concrete processing of step SP59 described above (i.e., there-execution processing) is shown in FIG. 28. However, in FIG. 28, thereis the relation between clips shown in FIG. 26, and at the same time theresultant clips FC-E, FC-D, FC-C, FC-B, and FC-A are all disable by theprocessing of step SP54 explained above.

As shown in FIG. 28, when the re-execution is instructed, the CPU 21forms a stack memory on the RAM 21B and pushes the clip management dataof the resultant clip positioned at the uppermost of the clip tree ontothe stack memory. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 26, sincethe resultant clip FC-A is at the uppermost position, the clipmanagement data of the resultant clip FC-A is pushed on the stackmemory. Note that pushing means that data is piled up in the stackmemory space.

At next step SP72, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the stack memoryis empty. In the present state, at step SP71, data exists since the clipmanagement data is pushed onto the stack memory, so that the negativeresult is obtained. Thereby, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP74.

At step SP74, the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip fromthe stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is enable basedon the enable/disable flag of the clip management data. In the exampleshown in FIG. 26, since the resultant clip FC-A is disable, the negativeresult is obtained and the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP75. Note thatpopping means that the data piled up in the stack memory space is readout from the uppermost data.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clip of theresultant clip is all enable based on the clip management data read outat the former step SP74. In this case, the CPU 21 refers the child linkID code registered in the clip management data of the resultant clip todetermine the lower clip based on the clip ID code registered there, andrefers the enable/disable flag of the lower clip from the clip databaseto determine whether or not the lower clips are all enable clips. In theexample shown in FIG. 26, the resultant clip FC-B being the lower clipof the resultant clip FC-A is disable, so that the negative result isobtained and the CPU 21 proceeds to next step SP77.

At step SP77, the CPU 21 pushes again the clip management data of theresultant clip popped before, and proceeds to next step SP78. In theexample shown in FIG. 26, the clip management data of the resultant clipFC-A is pushed again onto the stack memory. At step SP78, the CPU 21pushes one clip management data of the disable clip among the lowerclips of the resultant clip re-pushed at step SP77 onto the stackmemory. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the lower clip FC-B of theresultant clip FC-A is disable, so that the clip management data of theresultant clip FC-B is pushed onto the stack memory.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, since the clipmanagement data exists in the stack memory, the negative result isobtained and proceeds to step SP74. At step SP74, the CPU 21 pops theclip management data for one clip from the stack memory, and determineswhether or not the clip is enable based on the enable/disable flag ofthe clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theclip management data of the resultant clip FC-B is read out but theresultant clip FC-B is disable, the negative result is obtained andproceeds to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, theresultant clips FC-C and FC-D being the lower clips of the resultantclip FC-B is disable, so that the negative result is obtained andproceeds to step SP77.

At step SP77, the CPU 21 pushes again the clip management data of theresultant clip popped before, and proceeds to next step SP78. In theexample shown in FIG. 26, the clip management data of the resultant clipFC-B is pushed again. At next step SP78, the CPU 21 pushes one clipmanagement data of the disable clip among the lower clips of theresultant clip re-pushed at step SP77 onto the stack memory. In theexample shown in FIG. 26, the clip management data of the resultant clipFC-C is pushed.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the negative result isobtained since it is not empty, and proceeds to step SP74. At step SP74,the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip from the stackmemory, and determines whether or not the resultant clip is enable basedon the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theclip management data of the resultant clip FC-C is read out but theresultant clip FC-C is disable, the negative result is obtained andproceeds to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, theresultant clip FC-E being the lower clip of the resultant clip FC-C isdisable, so that the negative result is obtained and proceeds to stepSP77.

At step SP77, the CPU 21 pushes again the clip management data of theresultant clip popped before onto the stack memory, and proceeds to nextstep SP78. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the clip management data ofthe resultant clip FC-C is pushed again. At next step SP78, the CPU 21pushes one clip management data of the disable clip among the lowerclips of the resultant clip re-pushed at step SP77 onto the stackmemory. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the clip management data of theresultant clip FC-E is pushed.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the negative result isobtained since it is not empty, and proceeds to next step SP74. At stepSP74, the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip from thestack memory, and determines whether or not the resultant clip is enablebased on the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26,since the resultant clip FC-E is read out but the resultant clip FC-E isdisable, the negative result is obtained to proceed to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theclips MC-E1, MC-E2, and FC-G which are lower clips of the resultant clipFC-E are all enable, the affirmative result is obtained, and proceeds tostep SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21 performs the edit processing using the clipvideo data of the clip specified as a material based on the work dataregistered in the clip management data, so as to produce the clip videodata of the resultant clip and changes the enable/disable flag of theclip management data of the resultant clip into enable. In the exampleshown in FIG. 26, the edit processing is performed by using the clipsFC-G, MC-E1, and MC-E2 specified as materials to produce the clip videodata of the resultant clip FC-E and change the enable/disable flag ofthe resultant clip FC-E into enable.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the negative result isobtained since it is not empty, and proceeds to step SP74. At step SP74,the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip from the stackmemory, and determines whether or not the resultant clip is enable basedon the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theclip management data of the resultant clip FC-C is read out but theresultant clip FC-C is disable, the negative result is obtained andproceeds to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the clipsFC-E and MC-C1 being the lower clips of the resultant clips FC-C areenable, so that the affirmative result is obtained and proceeds to stepSP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21 performs the edit processing using the clipvideo data of the clip specified as a material based on the work dataregistered in the clip management data, so as to produce the clip videodata of the resultant clip and changes the enable/disable flag of theclip management data of the resultant clip into enable. In the exampleshown in FIG. 26, the edit processing is performed by using the clipsFC-E and MC-C1 to produce the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-Cand change the enable/disable flag of the resultant clip FC-C intoenable.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the negative result isobtained since it is not empty, and proceeds to step SP74. At step SP74,the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip from the stackmemory, and determines whether or not the resultant clip is enable basedon the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theclip management data of the resultant clip FC-B is read out but theresultant clip FC-B is disable, the negative result is obtained andproceeds to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, theresultant clip FC-D being the lower clip is disable, so that thenegative result is obtained and proceeds to step SP77.

At step SP77, the CPU 21 pushes again the clip management data of theresultant clip onto the stack memory similarly, and at next step SP78,pushes the clip management data of the disable lower clip onto the stackmemory.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the negative result isobtained since it is not empty, and proceeds to step SP74. At step SP74,the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip from the stackmemory, and determines whether or not the resultant clip is enable basedon the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theresultant clip FC-D is read out but the resultant clip FC-D is disable,the negative result is obtained and proceeds to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the clipsFC-E, FC-F, MC-D1 and MC-D2 being lower clips of the resultant clip FC-Dare all enable, so that the affirmative result is obtained and proceedsto step SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21 performs the edit processing using the clipvideo data of the clip specified as a material based on the work dataregistered in the clip management data, so as to produce the clip videodata of the resultant clip and changes the enable/disable flag of theclip management data of the resultant clip into enable. In the exampleshown in FIG. 26, the edit processing is performed by using the clipsFC-E, FC-F, MC-D1 and MC-D2 to produce the clip video data of theresultant clip FC-D and change the enable/disable flag of the resultantclip FC-D into enable.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the negative result isobtained since it is not empty, and proceeds to step SP74. At step SP74,the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip from the stackmemory, and determines whether or not the resultant clip is enable basedon the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theclip management data of the resultant clip FC-B is read out but theresultant clip FC-B is disable, the negative result is obtained andproceeds to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, theresultant clips FC-C and FC-D being lower clips are enable, so that theaffirmative result is obtained and proceeds to step SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21 performs the edit processing using the clipvideo data of the clip specified as a material based on the work dataregistered in the clip management data, so as to produce the clip videodata of the resultant clip and changes the enable/disable flag of theclip management data of the resultant clip into enable. In the exampleshown in FIG. 26, the edit processing is performed by using the clipsFC-C and FC-D to produce the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-Band change the enable/disable flag of the resultant clip FC-B intoenable.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the negative result isobtained since it is not empty, and proceeds to step SP74. At step SP74,the CPU 21 pops the clip management data for one clip from the stackmemory, and determines whether or not the resultant clip is enable basedon the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since theclip management data of the resultant clip FC-A is read out but theresultant clip FC-A is disable, the negative result is obtained andproceeds to step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the lower clips ofthe resultant clip are all enable based on the clip management data readout at the former step SP74. In the example shown in FIG. 26, theresultant clip FC-B being lower clip is enable, so that the affirmativeresult is obtained and proceeds to step SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21 performs the edit processing using the clipvideo data of the clip specified as a material based on the work dataregistered in the clip management data, so as to produce the clip videodata of the resultant clip and changes the enable/disable flag of theclip management data of the resultant clip into enable. In the exampleshown in FIG. 26, the edit processing is performed by using theresultant clip FC-B to produce the clip video data of the resultant clipFC-A and change the enable/disable flag of the resultant clip FC-A intoenable.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again to determine whether or notthe stack memory is empty. In the present state, the stack memory isempty since the all data to the uppermost resultant clip are read out bypop processing described above, and an affirmative result is obtained.Therefore, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP73 to complete the re-executionprocessing.

In addition, at step SP74, if-it is determined that the clip of the clipmanagement data read from the stack memory is enable, the CPU 21 returnsto step SP72. For example, when the uppermost resultant clip is enablein the clip tree, the clip management data is pushed onto the stackmemory by the processing of step SP71. However, since the affirmativeresult is obtained by determination of step SP74, the CPU 21 returns tostep SP72 to complete the re-execution processing immediately becausethe affirmative result is obtained. In this way, when the uppermostresultant clip is enable, the re-execution processing is not performedactually.

Here, the content of the flowchart of the re-execution processingdescribed above is shown in FIG. 29 schematically. In the editing system1 according to this invention, when the uppermost resultant clip FC-A isdisable, it is determined whether the resultant clip FC-B which is thelower clip of the clip FC-A is enable or not, and when it is disable, itis determined whether the clip FC-C which is the lower clip of the clipFC-B is enable or not. As a result, when the resultant clip FC-C isdisable, it is determined whether the clip FC-E which is the lower clipof the resultant clip FC-C is enable or not, and when the resultant clipFC-E is disable, it is determined whether the clip FC-G which is thelower clip of the resultant clip FC-E is enable or not.

As a result, if the resultant clip FC-G is enable, the clip video dataof the resultant clip is transferred to execute the edit processingbased on the clip video data again, so as to produce the clip video dataof the resultant clip FC-E corresponding to the upper clip. When theclip video data of the resultant clip FC-E is produced, the editprocessing based on the clip video data is executed again, so as toproduce the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-C corresponding tothe upper clip. When the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-C isproduced, the edit processing based on the clip video data is tried tobe executed again. However, since the resultant clip FC-D which is theother lower clip is still disable, it is determined whether theresultant clip FC-E which is the lower clip of the resultant clip FC-Dis enable or not.

If the resultant clip FC-E is enable, the clip video data of theresultant clip FC-E is transferred. Also, it is determined whether theresultant clip FC-F which is the other lower clip of the resultant clipFC-D is enable or not, and when it is enable, the clip video data of theresultant clip FC-F is also transferred. When the clip video data fromthe lower clips FC-E and FC-F are transferred, the edit processing basedon the clip video data is executed again, so as to produce the clipvideo data of the resultant clip FC-D corresponding to the upper clip.Next, when the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-D is produced,the edit processing based on the clip video data is executed again, soas to produce the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-Bcorresponding to the upper clip. Next, when the clip video data of theresultant clip FC-B is produced, the edit processing based on the clipvideo data is executed again, so as to produce the clip video data ofthe resultant clip FC-A corresponding to the upper clip.

In this way, in the editing system 1 according to this invention, if thecontent of the edit processing of the resultant clip FC-E is modified,the flag for identifying the resultant clip FC-E is changed to disableand the flags for identifying the resultant clips FC-C, FC-D, FC-B, andFC-A which are linked to the upper position of the resultant clip FC-Eare all changed to disable. Then, the re-execution processing isspecified by selecting the command of the view or the all view, isdetermined whether the clips is enable or not from the uppermostresultant clip FC-A toward the lower clips. When reached to the cliphaving all enable clips linked at the lower position, the editprocessing of the clip is re-executed to change the clip into the enableclip, and the edit processing of the clip which are linked at the upperposition is successively re-executed to change all clips which arelinked at the upper position into enable clips. Thus, in the editingsystem 1 according to this invention, such processing is performed so asto easily modify the edit result once produced, even if the operatordoes not remember the relation between clips conventionally.

(7) Operation and Effect of the Editing System

With the above construction, when the editing system 1 is started up,the top menu is displayed on the display 2B of the work station 2. Anoperator selects the command of starting up a desired module on the topmenu, and starts up the module suitable to the edit work which will beperformed. When the module is started up, the GUI for editing isdisplayed on the display 2B of the work station 2.

For example, when the composite module CM is started up, the GUI shownin FIG. 10 is displayed on the display 2B in the GUI for compositeprocessing, the time line window 34 only for the composite processing isdisplayed, and the clip being a material can be easily specified or adesired composite processing can be specified. At this time, in the GUI,the clips registered as the clip database CDB are displayed on the cliptree window 31 or the library window 33, and if a desired clip isselected among from these clips as a material and placed at the videoarea of the time line window 34, the material of composite processingcan be easily specified.

Further, to set the parameter of the composite processing specified onthe time line window 34, the parameter is set with viewing the screen byusing the parameter setting window 35 displayed on the same GUI, so thata desired composite parameter can be set.

Further, on the clip tree window 31, the clip tree such that therelation between respective clips registered in the clip database CDB isunderstood is displayed. When viewing the clip tree, it can be easilyobtained that which of clips is each clip produced from as a material.

Similarly, when the special effect module SM is started up, the GUIshown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display 2B. Also in the GUI of thespecial effect processing, the time line window 41 only for the specialeffect is displayed, and if you operates in accordance with the timeline window 41, the clip being a material can be easily specified or adesired special effect processing can be specified. Moreover, also inthe GUI of the special effect processing, the clip tree window 31 andthe library window 33 are provided, so that the desired clip registeredin the clip database CDB can be easily selected as a material.

Similarly, when the edit module EM is started up, the GUI shown in FIG.12 is displayed on the display 2B. Also in the GUI of the editprocessing, the time line window 51 only for the edit processing isdisplayed, and if you operates in accordance with the time line window51, the clip being a material can be easily specified or a desired editprocessing can be specified.

In this way, in the editing system 1, the desired material or the editcontent is specified with viewing the GUI displayed on the display 2B ofthe work station 2, so as to easily perform the desired edit work.Further, in the editing system 1, various instructions relating to theedit work can be input through the work station 2, and the edit work canbe performed easily even if the operator does not operate intentionallyvarious devices as a conventional way.

Therefore, in the editing system 1, the edit work can be performedeasier and higher in speed as compared with the conventional one. Also,the many types of materials registered in the clip database CDB are usedto obtain the complicated and high quality video data.

On the other hand, in the editing system 1, each clip being as amaterial is managed with the hierarchical structure based on therelation between clips. More specifically, it is understood that whichof clips is the clip linked to. Therefore, even if the content of theedit is changed after the edit work has been performed once, theassociated clips can be changed automatically by the management of thehierarchical structure. Thereby, the edit work can be easily changed andthe edit work is performed efficiently even if the operator does notintentionally remember the relation between clips. Furthermore, even ifthe edit content is changed, the original work data relating to the editis remained so as to return it to the original state after the editcontent has been changed. Further, the relation between clips is managedwith the hierarchical structure, so that the edit work is successivelyperformed based on the relation between clips managed with thehierarchical structure to perform the complicated edit work easily.

In accordance with the above construction, the work station 2 displayingthe GUI for each function is provided to enable to input the variousedit instructions in accordance with the screen of the GUI, so that thedesired edit work can be performed without the operation of devices asconventional one, and the editing system which significantly improvesthe usability can be realized.

Further, respective clips being as materials are managed with thehierarchical structure based on the relation between clips, so that thecomplete edit work can be performed easily and the edit work can bechanged easily, thereby the editing system which can perform thecomplicated edit work easily and rapidly can be realized.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In the broadcasting station, etc., this invention can be utilized in thecomplicated edit work using a plurality of materials.

1. An editing system for editing a plurality of clips to produce an editresultant clip, comprising: editing means for edit processing saidplurality of clips on the basis of clip management data defining theedit processing performed on each of said plurality of clips to producesaid edit resultant clip; each of said plurality of clips and said editresultant clip having a corresponding enable/disable flag; managingmeans for managing said plurality of clips on the basis of linkinformation indicating a tree structure for linking said plurality ofclips to produce said edit resultant clip; and control means formodifying the edit processing performed on one of said plurality ofclips in producing said edit resultant clip, setting the enable/disableflags corresponding to each of said plurality of clips linked in saidtree structure above the modified edit processing to disable, re-editprocessing each of said plurality of clips having enable/disable flagsset to disable, thereby re-producing said edit resultant clip to includethe modified edit processing, automatically updating said clipmanagement data and link information for each of said plurality of clipsin accordance with the modified edit processing; and re-setting theenable/disable flags corresponding to each of said plurality of clipslinked in said tree structure above the modified edit processing toenable wherein a plurality of enable/disable flags corresponding torespective ones of the plurality of clips linked to the tree structureare reset at once in response to the modification of a single clip. 2.The editing system according to claim 1, further comprising a clipdatabase for storing the clip management data and link information.
 3. Amethod of editing a plurality of clips to produce an edit resultantclip, comprising the steps of: edit processing said plurality of clipson the basis of clip management data defining the edit processingperformed on each of said plurality of clips to produce said editresultant clip; each of said plurality of clips and said edit resultantclip having a corresponding enable/disable flag; managing said pluralityof clips on the basis of link information indicating a tree structurefor linking said plurality of clips to produce said edit resultant clip;modifying the edit processing performed on one of said plurality ofclips in producing said edit resultant clip; setting the enable/disableflags corresponding to each of said plurality of clips linked in saidtree structure above the modified edit processing to disable; re-editprocessing each of said plurality of clips having enable/disable flagsset to disable, thereby re-producing said edit resultant clip to includethe modified edit processing; automatically updating said clipmanagement data and link information for each of said plurality of clipsin accordance with the modified edit processing; and re-setting theenable/disable flags corresponding to each of said plurality of clipslinked in said tree structure above the modified edit processing toenable wherein a plurality of enable/disable flags corresponding torespective ones of the plurality of clips linked to the tree structureare reset at once in response to the modification of a single clip. 4.The method according to claim 3, wherein the clip management data andlink information are stored in a clip database.